Curatorial Proposal
The seminar will focus on compiling a visual-textual dictionary of concepts from the field of academic art education in Ukraine, with an emphasis on the totality of its institutional practices. The real life of art education institutions is shaped by established practices, norms, and traditions that have formed over a long period and largely inherit the Soviet institutional model. Operating at the level of everyday behavior among participants in the educational process, these practices become an unmanifested, naturalized structure of relations, and are therefore often unrecognized in reform attempts, while familiar critical tactics get stuck in the density of these formal and informal practices.
We propose the dictionary form as a practical tool capable of identifying and revealing this non-obvious system of relations within the space of academic art education. Working with a concept or phenomenon involves analyzing it with a focus on the practices that enable and define its functioning in the field of higher art education.
Participants will work on their own concept drawn from various sources that shape the field of education (official documents, curricula, everyday professional language, and personal experience). The work will rely on a proposed situational working model of institutional practices:
- Practices of imitation/pretending, visibility, simulation, mythology
- Practices of hierarchy/paternalism, nepotism, isolationism, creative dynasties
- Practices of reproduction / continuity, self-historicization, positioning, legitimization, nurturing
- Practices of survival/hybridization, adaptation, formalization, mutual aid
- Practices of critique/self-education, self-governance, problematization
Curatorial group: Kateryna Badianova, Ivan Melnychuk, Lada Nakonechna (Method Fund), Valeriia Pitienina (NAOMA), Daryna Skrynnyk-Myska (LNAM)
Program Structure
Over six months, a selected group of 10 participants will work together with the curatorial group in an online seminar format.
Working through presentations, joint editing, discussion, and group work, participants will develop the research questions proposed in their applications and search for a form to present their research at the final exhibition.
The research outcome may take various forms: an artwork, a text, an archival or field study, a series of interviews, work with historical materials, video, sound, performance, installation, or another format appropriate to the chosen question.
Stage 1. Open Call and Selection
September 14 – October 10, 2026 — application period.
October 11–15 — selection of applications by the curatorial group and announcement of results.
Stage 2. Seminar
From November 2026 to April 2027, participants will take part in regular online meetings with the curatorial group. The seminars will be devoted to joint discussion, development, and critical review of individual research projects, and will take place once a week.
The seminar is planned to consist of 14 online meetings.* A winter break will run from December 20, 2026, to January 10, 2027. In March 2027, a 4-day offline seminar will take place at Jam Factory Art Center in Lviv. A detailed schedule and dates will be agreed upon with participants before the work begins.
Attendance at all meetings is an important condition of participation in the project; however, given the unpredictable circumstances related to martial law, these matters may be arranged individually.
Stage 3. Exhibition Preparation
In March–April 2027, in parallel with the seminar work, participants together with the curatorial group will determine the final form of their research and work on its exhibition format.
Stage 4. Exhibition
In May 2027, the installation and opening of the exhibition at Jam Factory Art Center will take place. Participants will also join the project’s public program.
Who We Are Looking For
We invite artists, curators, researchers, and authors, regardless of their field of education, artistic discipline, and/or academic degree, to participate.
At the same time, it is important that the applicant:
- has a specific interest in the topic of art education in Ukraine
- at the application stage, proposes a dictionary concept relevant to the curatorial proposal described above and substantiates the related research question
- has a preliminary idea of the form for presenting the research results, for example, an installation, object, text, video, sound, performance, publication, or other format
- is ready to regularly participate in the joint six-month program
- is open to working together with the group, discussing their own research and its transformation
- presents the research outcome as part of the exhibition in spring 2027
Each participant will receive an honorarium of €1,000 and a production budget of up to €1,000 for the final project. The organizers cover travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the offline seminar in Lviv, as well as for the installation and opening of the exhibition.
To apply, fill out the application form by October 10, 2026.
What the Application Should Include
- Research question — up to 700 words
Must include:
- A concept or phenomenon from the field of problems in academic art education
- Justification for the choice
Optional:
- State of research on the topic: has anyone already addressed the chosen concept, phenomenon, or issue? If so, what new focus are you proposing? If you are the first to address this concept, explain why, in your opinion, it has not yet been noticed or studied.
- What materials, people, places, or sources do you plan to work with?
- How do you envision the final form of the work?
- What do you need to carry out the research and project?
- Brief motivation for participating in the project — up to 300 words
- CV
- Portfolio or examples of a few projects related to the topic or to artistic research as a method
Selection results will be announced on October 15, 2026.
If you have questions about the open call, write to: [email protected]
About Curatorial group
Kateryna Badianova — co-founder of Method Fund and a doctoral researcher at the University of Bamberg. In her artistic and research practice, she focuses on the art history of Central and Eastern Europe, art criticism, and education.
Ivan Melnychuk — architect, artist, curator, and researcher of architecture and art.
Lada Nakonechna — artist, curator, and associate researcher at the documenta Institute. Since 2005, she has participated in numerous collaborative projects and groups. She is a member of the R.E.P. group and a co-founder of Method Fund. She is a recipient of the Kazimir Malevich Artist Award and the Women in Arts Award.
Valeriia Pitenina — researcher and lecturer at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. She has participated in a number of projects dedicated to the history of Ukrainian book graphics and photography. She is the author and lecturer of the courses History of Photography, Comics and the Graphic Novel, and History of Art of the 20th–21st Centuries at NAFAA.
Daryna Skrynnyk-Myska — Head of the Department of Contemporary Art Practices at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, lecturer, and researcher working with contemporary art, visual culture, and art education.