Vidnova Fellows

Shaza Musa lived in Kyiv and then moved to Berlin, Germany. She is a Syrian-Ukrainian cultural figure, designer, illustrator, and coordinator of art projects. Her purpose is to study patterns that are part of the visual language and design of the Poltava region and design the research into a digital publication.

Victoria Fedoriv, originally from Kyiv, moved to Berlin. She is a cultural manager and was a coordinator of the Gogolfest festival and the Dakh Theater. She will implement a special block of the online course within the Know Your Ukraine project on preserving our cultural traditions in the modern world.

Alina Ponypalyak used to live in Kyiv, then moved to Krotoszyn, Poland. She holds a PhD in history and is a researcher of the Second World War. Alina’s goal is to uncover little-known pages of World War II history and show how the Holocaust and Nazi crimes changed history, memory, and Ukraine.

Natalia Bukhta moved to Unichov, Czech Republic from Rivne. She worked as an advocate for the protection of women’s and children’s rights, counteracted discrimination against Roma, and helped families who lost relatives due to forced deportation from Ukraine during World War II. She is returning to Ukraine to resume all of her activities and add to them legal assistance to families of military personnel and women and children who have been forced to move to safer regions of Ukraine and abroad.

Valeriya Guevska moved from Kyiv to Graz, Austria. Valeriya is working on publishing a magazine about underground culture, “Potop”. She plans to finalize the Dido typeface, dedicate it to the artist Andrii Sagaidakovsky, and make a video installation for the Konstruksia festival, where she wants to experiment with the ideas of poetic painting, abstract painting, and vernacular inscriptions.

Polina Choni was born in Kyiv and then moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. Polina is a visual artist. She will work on the artistic research project “Chemical Reaction” and create a series of woven canvases using natural dyes. This project is dedicated to studying natural pigments from plants, mushrooms, and minerals collected on the territory of Ukraine and tells about the ecological consequences of the war.

Maria Leonova moved to Finland from Kyiv. An artist, she plans to research the work of writer, teacher, and activist Olha Duchyminska as part of her fellowship. It will include an expedition to the village of Mykolaiv (Lviv region), collecting artifacts from the area and combining them with the plots of her poems through various types of arts and crafts.

Khrystyna is an actress, dancer, and performer. She moved from Kyiv to Paris and Wuppertal. She plans to study art therapy, improve mental health among her existing and new audiences, and create plays, videos, and performances designed to heal audiences in Ukraine.

Svitlana Jamal Eddin moved from Kyiv to Witten, Germany. She is an activist who works on the topic of asexuality due to illness and how to adapt to these changes in life. She wants to help raise awareness of women who have also faced such changes.

Nadiia from Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, moved to Wroclaw, Poland. Nadiia is a Doctor of Science, Associate Professor of the Department of Aesthetics, History and Culture, and Candidate of Philosophical Sciences. She will work on a research project on the history and culture of Donbas. The final result of the research will be a presentation at an international conference.

Anna Burban moved from Lviv to Portugal. She is a writer, law historian, and the head of a charity foundation that has been helping women involved in the war, women veterans, and women veteran artists for over 15 years. Anna helps women reintegrate through cultural practices and overcome the creative crisis after their military experience. With their art and raise money to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. More than 120 charity events have already been held.

Yana Gergel is originally from Vysokopillia, Kherson region, and moved to Poland from there. She is a cultural manager and Roma activist. Yana’s work focuses on the importance of involving the Roma community in the civic life of Ukraine. She plans to create a festival and a public space for Roma.

Zoreslava is the director of the South Ukrainian City Historical Museum. In frames of the Vidnova Ukraine Fellowship, she updated the museum’s fund storage and implemented the latest technologies. The permanent exhibition “Heroes do not Die” has been updated with decorated portraits of fallen soldiers, a restored diorama, and a purchased multimedia video projector.