As part of the accompanying program of the exhibition “Looking into the Gaps IV,” Jam Factory Art Center presents the event “Death Cafe” (“Кафе Смерть”). This is a reversed version of the name Death Cafe—an open-format, social franchise of self-organized, non-commercial gatherings where people (often strangers) come together over tea to talk about death.
These meetings are group discussions of personal questions about death, rather than professional support for dealing with loss or theoretical conversations. The Death Cafe model was developed by Jon Underwood and Sue Barsky Reid, based on the ideas of Bernard Crettaz. Since summer 2025, Alyona Karavai has been hosting her own format of “Death Cafe” in different cities across Ukraine—as part of the broader program by Insha Osvita focused on grief, death, and life, which has recently been titled the School of Death. The idea is to explore different formats of manifesting grief and to create safe spaces for conversations about death as a way of honoring the memory of the dead and the vitality of the living.
Facilitated by Alyona Karavai.
Event Details
- Date: April 5, 2026, 17:00
- Location: Jam Factory Art Center
(124 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St., Air Space) - Free admission with prior registration. The number of places is limited to 15 participants. Registration deadline: April 3, 23:59. Confirmation of participation will be sent by email on April 4.
Alyona Karavai is a cultural manager, curator, and essayist; founder of Insha Osvita, and co-founder of the project space Asortymentna Kimnata and the residency house Khata-Maisternia. She worked at the Izolyatsia Center for Contemporary Art when it first opened in Donetsk. Since 2017, she has initiated several artistic projects in Ivano-Frankivsk, including the contemporary art school fra fra fra (since 2023). Since 2022, she has been working with non-museumized artistic archives, as well as programs for Ukrainian artists in Ukraine and abroad (Rozsiiane Zasiiane), and for artist-soldiers and veteran artists (Vilno, Do Frogs Sing Within Walls). She is currently a fellow of the first cohort of Socially Engaged Arts. Her work focuses on themes of peripheries, absence, death, and (women’s) artistic communities.
