Media kit

Media contacts

Lesia Dunets, communication manager of Jam Factory Art Center
[email protected]

JAM FACTORY: A NEW ART CENTER FOR UKRAINE OPENS IN THE MIDST OF WAR

On 18 November 2023, Jam Factory Art Center in Lviv officially opened its doors to the public. Housed in a former industrial building first used as distillery and later as a fruit bottling plant, Jam Factory Art Center will stage exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, as well as host new productions in performative arts and music in a specially designed space.

The idea of establishing a new cultural centre in Lviv took root in 2015, when philanthropist and historian Dr. Harald Binder decided to support the development of Jam Factory Art Center as a center for contemporary art. The initiative also saw an opportunity to regenerate Lviv’s industrial building and its neighborhood into a vibrant public space. After extensive research and preparation, significant funding was provided to go ahead.

Jam Factory Art Center is located in the district of Pidzamche, north of central Lviv, once a thriving industrial area. The building, with its distinctive crenellations and neo-gothic façade, was commissioned by the Jewish entrepreneur Josef Kronik in 1872. It operated as a successful distillery until the Second World War, which the Kronik family, tragically, did not survive. Post war, the factory was importing wines from Moldova and other parts of the USSR until, in 1970, it was converted into a plant for bottling fruit and vegetables. It ceased production in the 1990s. From 2008 the building was used on an ad hoc basis for cultural initiatives such as the Contemporary Art Week, a theatre festival, and other artistic and community engaged activities.

Following the purchase of the buildings in 2015, the Austrian architectural firm of Stefan Rindler was selected to restore and re-model the former building in collaboration with the Ukrainian office AVR. To create a multidisciplinary art centre as a space for critical reflection through culture was the concept from the beginning. Institutions of this kind which would also serve as a point of connection between Ukraine and the wider world are still rare in the country. The structural composition of the complex consisting of six separate buildings reflects these ambitions. Grouped around an open courtyard and an extended alley, Jam Factory Art Center is built as a continuous, flexible space, able to accommodate performance, installation, and discussions. On the larger territory the site of a former synagogue has been marked out, a reminder, rather than an erasure, of Ukraine’s turbulent past.

Beyond the Silence: An exhibition that captures global issues through the lenses of photographers

On 21 March, the exhibition ‘Beyond the Silence’ by Odesa Photo Days Festival and Magnum Photos agency will open at the Jam Factory Art Center, Lviv, Ukraine. Launched by Magnum Photos and Open Society Foundations after the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, ‘Beyond the Silence’ aims to explore the connections between Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria and Myanmar by creating a dialogue between photographers and visualising their stories, experiences and reflections on common problems.

“With this project and its partners, we aim to keep the dialogue on the current global crisis alive through photography. Connecting the geography of violence, recognizing it through the visual witnesses and testimonies of those who live its consequences, is the first step towards a global awareness of our own responsibilities in the present and the future,” says Giulietta Palumbo, Global Editorial Director of Magnum Photos.

Twelve stories from twelve photographers will showcase the global connection between critical issues, presenting a variety of visual narratives and perspectives. The exhibition will feature printed images, videos and installations. The photographers explore themes such as ‘Territory’, ‘Fight and/or Adaptation’, ‘Kidnapping’ and ‘Censorship’. These issues exist across all countries differing only in context and the ways that they are resolved.

‘In every corner of the globe, conflicts, both decades-old and new, serve as a vivid reminder not only of our interconnectedness as nations, but also of the shared experiences in communities around the world. Occupation and illegal annexation, the impact of colonialism and censorship, individual and collective decisions to fight or adapt – these are just some of the questions that Beyond the Silence invites artists to answer from their own perspective’, says Kateryna Radchenko, curator of the project.

Since November 2024, the exhibition has been presented in various formats, in whole or in part, in Kazakhstan (Almaty), Mexico (Oaxaca and Mexico City) and Cambodia (Angkor). An opening in Nigeria (Lagos) is also planned for this year.

‘We are living in unprecedented times. The current socio-political situation makes us think about the vulnerability and fragility of civilisation and the principles of the democratic world. The exhibition connects Ukraine with similar stories on other continents and strengthens our struggle by raising important questions about the protection of human rights, upholding justice and dignity in different countries’, says Bozhena Pelenska, Program and Executive Director of Jam Factory Art Center.

At Jam Factory Art Center, we present the whole project featuring 12 artists — open call winners from 5 countries and Magnum photographers.

Sasha Kurmaz (Ukraine) – Daniel Orlando Lara Garcia (Mexico) – Rafal Milach (Poland, Magnum Photos),
Ira Lupu (Ukraine) – Fawaz Oyediji (Nigeria) – Newsha Tavakolian (Iran, Magnum Photos),
Daria Svertilova (Ukraine) – Sai ▇▇▇ (Myanmar) – Antoine d’Agata (France, Magnum Photos),
Mykhaylo Palinchak (Ukraine) – Yadykar Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) – Thomas Dworzak (Germany, Magnum Photos).

Beyond the Silence – is a collaborative project organised by Magnum Photos in partnership with Odesa Photo Days Festival (Ukraine), Centro de las Artes San Agustín (Mexico), Africa Artists’ Foundation (Nigeria), Vlast (Kazakhstan) and the Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops (Cambodia), with the support of Open Society Foundations and the Ukrainian Institute.

Project curator — Kateryna Radchenko, founder of Odesa Photo Days. Director — Giulietta Palumbo, Editorial Director at Magnum Photos.

On 21 March, at 15:30, a press event with curator Kateryna Radchenko will take place. We kindly ask everyone to register by completing a short accreditation form here: https://forms.gle/YynTNBt4fxcrzLsB8

About

Odesa Photo Days Festival is an international contemporary photography festival founded in 2015 as a response to the war in eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea. Since 24 February 2022, Odesa Photo Days has changed its focus: the festival in Odesa has been canceled, and now the team is working with Ukrainian photographers and the international community to build a cross-cultural dialogue and represent Ukrainian culture in the world.

Jam Factory Art Center, a contemporary art institution opened in November 2023, is housed in a revitalized neo-Gothic building that once served as a jam-producing factory. Through exhibitions, theatrical performances, musical events, educational programs, and community-oriented projects, the center engages visitors in creative dialogue and strives to enrich their experience and knowledge.

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, and London. Founded in 1947, Magnum represents some of the world’s most renowned photographers, maintaining its founding ideals and idiosyncratic mix of journalists, artists, and storytellers.

Contacts for Media

Valeriia Shevchenko
PR-director of Odesa Photo Days Festival
+380972204704
[email protected]

Lesia Dunets
Communications manager at Jam Factory Art Center
+380676604291
[email protected]

Giulietta Palumbo
[email protected]

A detailed description of the concept of the exhibition can be found here.

Heads of the institution

Harald Binder, the founder

Swiss historian, Ph.D. in history and economics from the University of Bern. His research focuses on the history of Central and Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, Habsburg Galicia, urban history, media, and the public sphere in the transition to modernity. As an entrepreneur and cultural patron, he founded the Center for Urban History (2004), Harald Binder Cultural Enterprises (2015), and the Jam Factory Art Center (2017).

“I was encouraged to follow up on my first initiative, the urban research centre, after I had experienced what potential lies in Ukraine and its people. Just as much as science the arts constitute an important medium of profound reflection for a society, especially in times of war.”

Bozhena Pelenska, Program and Executive Director

Bozhena is responsible for the Art Center’s development strategy, program development, management, and institutional development. She developed the concept and program activities of the Art Center. She studied Cultural Studies, Art History, Philosophy and Art Management. She has participated in international programs of cultural management, cultural diplomacy and exchange programs. She graduated from the University of Lviv and the University of Ottawa with a degree in Cultural Studies. She is currently a graduate student at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, University of Maryland.

“My big aspiration was to create a strong art organization that would become a vivid place in the city and provide opportunities for Ukrainian artists and art professionals to grow and become visible on the Ukrainian and International artistic map. It was my dream to bring to our developing civil society an important pillar – a sustainable art institution. These days it plays an important role supporting and developing culture during war times”

Bozhena together with her co-director and head of finance and administration, Tetiana Fedoruk, lead a team of further 17 staff members augmented by project-based collaborators.

Tetiana Fedoruk, Operations and Executive Director

Tetiana is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of the Center’s business model. She is also responsible for financial and management accounting, operational processes, and team management. Tetiana provided financial support for approximately 100 grant projects as CFO of the Center for Urban History. She holds ACCA Diploma in International Financial Reporting (2021) and Financial Accounting Managerial Decision Making (2022) from DePaul University. She is currently a student on the Key Executive MBA program at the UCU Business School.

Supervisory Board Members

Harald Binder (Chair);

Vasyl Kosiv, head of the Academy of Arts, Lviv;

Olesya Khromeychuk, director of the Ukrainian Institute, London.