interdisciplinary laboratory
exploring and shaping places of remembrance connected to experiences of war in Irpin
In August we invite residents of the community to discuss the places of memory with which the laboratory will work.
interdisciplinary laboratory
exploring and shaping places of remembrance connected to experiences of war in Irpin
We invite residents of the community to discuss the places of remembrance with which the laboratory will be working
interdisciplinary laboratory
01 / About
The laboratory will bring together the Irpin community and the professional community to work collectively on four sites of remembrance – through research, dialogue and the involvement of artists and architects – in a joint search for an ethical and effective language and form of remembrance.
Approach
Each team draws on memories of specific events and places, as well as the testimonies and experiences of the people involved
Participants
Architects, artists, urban planners, researchers –
in interdisciplinary teams led by female supervisors
Outcome
Conceptual proposals for four memorial sites will be presented to the community and the project’s partners
02 / Sites
Four PLACES OF REMEMBRANCE — four teams
The laboratory is designed to help make the city’s work with memory inclusive, ethical and professionally grounded.
The Car Graveyard
сivilian vehicles abandoned during the evacuation of Irpin
How can a site filled with bullet-ridden and burned civilian vehicles become a memorial space while preserving its documentary value? These vehicles are material evidence of the mass evacuation of Irpin residents during the fighting in 2022. The laboratory will explore how this improvised storage site might be transformed into a place that preserves and communicates the stories of those who fled the city.
CURATOR: KSENIA MALYKH
Curator, art historian and Head of Promprylad Art Center. Her work focuses on analytical approaches to contemporary art and ethical engagement with collective memory in public space. For nine years, she led the Research Platform at PinchukArtCentre and curated or produced Ukrainian projects for the Venice Biennale in 2019, 2024 and 2026.
Team
The «Lisova 3» art group — Svitlana Hryb and Serhiy Spizhovyi, artists
Kateryna Demerza — researcher
Heorhiy Potopalsky — artist
Lilia Shpotenko — researcher
Lyubov Sedyakina — architect
Heroes’ Alley
portraits of fallen defenders displayed in the city’s central square
Banners bearing the portraits of fallen defenders became the city’s first heartfelt response to its losses. But today, this approach is reaching its limits: the number of those who have died is rising, and the temporary structures are deteriorating over time. This is a place where the private grief of families intersects daily with the rhythm of the city’s main square. How can we develop the existing practice into a sustainable system?
CURATOR: KATERYNA SEMENIUK
Mentor of the Irpin Laboratory project. Curator and cultural manager, co-founder of the memory culture platform Past / Future / Art. Since 2022, she has worked extensively on the memorialisation of the Russian-Ukrainian war and advocated for changes in public memory practices in Ukraine. She is one of the co-authors of the Memorialisation Practices Laboratory (2024), co-curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Malta Biennale (2024), and co-curator of the exhibition What We Talk About When We Talk About Crimea at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw (2026).
Team
Sana Shahmuradova Tanska — artist
Ksenia Bilyk — artist
Semyon Prokopenko — historian, researcher
Daria Borovik — urban planner
Oleksandra Pletenetska — artist
Checkpoints
a network of six positions that formed the city’s defensive line
The defence of Irpin relied on cooperation between residents with combat experience gained during the war in eastern Ukraine and civilian volunteers. Today, the network of six defensive checkpoints calls for a unified system of interpretation that can preserve the history of each location while connecting them into a shared narrative. The project explores how former fortification sites can be transformed into places of remembrance through a coherent visual and spatial concept.
CURATOR: ANASTASIIA PASIEKA
A curator and architect by training, which shapes her focus on spatial context and the connection between the environment and society. She focuses on projects related to collective memory and traumatic experiences. She coordinated the Laboratory of Memorialisation Practices (2024) and worked at the «Living Memory» centre at the Babyn Yar National Memorial Reserve.
Team
Inga Levi — artist
Lilia Klunko — architect
Lin Popova — urban planner
Valeria Guevska — designer
Ihor Shpylka — researcher
Remembering civilian victims
a commemorative space on the banks of the Irpin River
This memorial space is dedicated to civilians killed during the full-scale invasion. Rather than a traditional monument, it takes the form of an open landscape for reflection, remembrance and healing. The project explores artistic and landscape-based approaches that can preserve the memory of profound human loss while integrating commemoration into a public space that remains part of everyday urban life.
CURATOR: LIZAVETA HERMAN
Art historian and curator. Co-founder of The Naked Room gallery (2018–2025) and co-curator of the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale. She has held a fellowship at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) and led a research seminar on wartime art at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Her experience in memorialisation includes curating the competition for a memorial to the victims of the Holodomors in Ukraine (Melitopol, 2021). She is also co-author of landmark publications on Ukrainian Sixtiers art and Soviet mosaics.
TEAM
Kateryna Yakovlenko — researcher
Dasha Podoltseva — artist, designer
Yulia Maklyuk — artist
Oksana Hospodarenko — researcher
Nelia Moroz — architect
We are bringing together an interdisciplinary team to develop thoughtful, professionally grounded approaches to places of remembrance through research, dialogue and collaboration with the local community.
We welcome applications from people working in:
Architecture
Art
Urbanism
Research
History
Philosophy
Design
Other disciplines*
*are also welcome. If your expertise could strengthen the team, we would love to hear from you.
Apply if you:
- work with art, memory, history, space, cities or communities
- are prepared to engage with trauma-informed approaches
- enjoy working collaboratively
- are interested in research, dialogue and complex questions rather than quick solutions
03 / Timeline
The main practical phase runs from August to October 2026. Following the open call in June and the formation of the teams in July, participants begin researching the sites of memory and engaging with the local community. In late October, the teams will present their concepts to the community for the first time. They will then refine them and present their final proposals at the end of the year.
We are documenting the process: the project team is collecting testimonies from people who experienced these events and from local residents, as well as recording conversations with experts and the interdisciplinary teams. These materials will form the basis of a documentary film. In early 2027, we plan to share our experience with other communities facing similar challenges.
01
June–July
Open Call and teams formation
02
August
Community engagement and research
03
September–October
Сoncept development
04
December
Presentation of the proposals to the community and project partners
05
2027
Sharing the project’s experience with other communities and presenting the documentary film
Join the team of co-creators shaping the future of remembrance in Irpin. Applications are open until 5 July 2026
04 / Partners
The project is initiated by Sigma Irpin Charitable Foundation in partnership with the Irpin City Council and supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. The project’s special partner is the memory culture platform Past / Future / Art.
Together with experts in memory culture, art and memorialisation, the project seeks to support thoughtful, ethical and context-sensitive approaches to engaging with the experiences of war in the city.
interdisciplinary laboratory
exploring and shaping places of remembrance connected to experiences of war in Irpin