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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.
An exhibition on social interaction during times of great trauma and upheaval opens at Jam Factory Art Center (Lviv, Ukraine)
On October 19, 2024, Jam Factory Art Center (Lviv, Ukraine) will open the exhibition “Structures of Reciprocity.” What is known in architecture as a reciprocal structure was intuitively and painfully rediscovered by Ukrainian society in 2014 and with renewed vigor after February 2022. The exhibition, curated by Kateryna Botanova, Ilona Demchenko, and Ksenia Malykh, invites visitors to reflect on various experiences of social interaction during difficult times.
The exhibition will be presented in two spaces: the Space of the Past and the Space of the Present. In the Space of the Past, artists will share their experiences from Ukraine and other countries and continents, exploring themes of remembrance and forgetting, loss and recovery, and reclaiming voices and stories.
In the Space of the Present, architect and artist Oleksandr Burlaka will recreate an archaic structure known as the Da Vinci Bridge specifically for the exhibition. This structure, consisting of elements that support and rely on each other without external support, a foundation, or a center, symbolizes reciprocity and interaction.
“The social reciprocal structure is both quite utopian and absolutely real. It emerges through a daily process of collectively defending a democratic society of equality and mutual support, a society that can rely on itself (and sometimes only on itself) in times of extreme threat. This is the daily reality of mutual aid and support in Ukraine during the great war. It is a daily struggle and inquiry for the future,” the exhibition curators comment.
Throughout the exhibition, artistic events will take place inside the structure. Visitors, together with artists, will weave new meanings, objects, forms, and connections from their own wartime stories. The works that will emerge from the workshops will become part of the exhibition and will be presented in the construction by Oleksandr Burlaka.
According to the curators, ‘Together, this diverse Past and a fluid, moving, mutually supportive, and co-creative Present will attempt to outline the contours of a possible and desired Future.’
A detailed description of the concept of the exhibition can be found here.
Artists:
In the Space of the Present:
Alevtina Kakhidze, Felipe Castelblanco, Oleksandr Burlaka, Olena Turyanska, Olga Shyshlova, Yasia Khomenko, Zhanna Kadyrova, _Mediaklub (Photinus Studio) together with students of The Transcarpathian Academy of Arts and Photinus School.
In the Space of the Past and between spaces:
Anton Shebetko, Binta Diaw, Christian Nyampeta, Dana Kavelina, Dasha Chechushkova,Felipe Castelblanco and Lydia Zimmermann, Francis Alÿs, Maksim Kolomiiets, Open Group, Oraib Toukan, Roman Khimei and Livyj Bereh, Yana Kononova.
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.
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