(Re)Grounding – artist residency programme
A programme that explores the climate emergency in post-industrial contexts through residencies connecting artistic practice, heritage and communities in the UK and Ukraine.
In 2022, the IZOLYATSIA Foundation and D6: Culture in Transit (UK) planned an exchange programme in the city of Soledar. The programme aimed to connect British and Ukrainian cultural managers and share experiences in working with decentralised communities, navigating the local context, and exploring the industrial history of the region. Dealing specifically with the environmental challenges of human intervention, including the growing aggression of the Russian Federation, was to be a central theme of the exchange. Additionally, British artists were to be invited to Soledar to create new artworks inspired by the city and its surroundings.
However, due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the project’s implementation became impossible. Consequently, the teams of the IZOLYATSIA Foundation and D6 decided to adapt the format and turn it into a residency for Ukrainian artists in the city of Newcastle, northeast England. Through an open call, artists Alexandra Clod (Krolikowska) and Karolina Uskakovych, as well as the curator Lyudmyla Nychai, were selected. They spent a month exploring the local context of Newcastle, joining public events and creating new works for a future exhibition.
On 18 November 2023, IZOLYATSIA and D6 opened (Re)Grounding at The NewBridge Project cultural centre. The event offered two artists’ reflections on the shared industrial landscapes of the UK and Ukraine, exploring the profound ways climate change echoes across these regions and impacting our lives today.
Watch the film about the project
Read more about the artists and curator in residence.
(Re)Grounding was a partnership between Kyiv-based IZOLYATSIA and D6, and was part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture devised jointly by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.