A program for Lviv-based artists of various disciplines who are interested in long-term collaboration with peers in the format of a performative collective at Jam Factory Art Center in 2026.
“Disposable Collective 1/2026” is a group of artists from different fields working at Jam Factory Art Center throughout 2026. The participants jointly develop the concept of a performance, test formats and themes, organize their own public events, and at the end of the program—in November—present a premiere that will become part of the art center’s repertoire.
The first Disposable Collective is co-created by: Mariia Bakalo, Anna Nykytiuk, Yaryna Shumska, Kateryna Pokora, and Yurii Shtaida.
Program curator: Liuba Ilnytska.
The idea and format of the program were created in response to the need of independent artists not to remain isolated in their practice and thinking, and to have space, time, and resources for experimentation and long-term work. The program’s title is an ironic reference to a disposable camera and to the standard format of independent projects, which typically bring together performative or theatre teams for about eight weeks of production. “Disposable Collective 1/2026” is also temporary, but the duration of this temporariness allows participants to get to know one another, find common ground, and develop their own themes and working methods.
Project Events
Kateryna Pokora
Artist from Kremenchuk, currently living and working in Lviv. In her practice, she explores the relationship between humans and the environment, focusing on interdependence and vulnerability. Through her work, she seeks to outline possibilities for coexistence based on an awareness of humanity’s inseparable involvement in the fabric of the living. She works across various media, including installation, object, photography, and graphics. She graduated from the Lviv National Academy of Arts with degrees in Contemporary Art Practices (2024) and Monumental Painting (2023), and also studied at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań (Textile and Fiber Art Studio, 2022)
Yurii Shtaida
Multidisciplinary artist working with performance, sound art, electronic music, stand-up comedy, and site-specific projects. Born in 1976 in Kharkiv, he studied puppet theatre and animation directing at Kharkiv State University of Arts. His practice combines different media and experiments with forms of interaction with space and audience. He currently lives and works in Lviv.
Mariia Bakalo
Choreographer, contemporary dance teacher, and performer. Her work reflects on the usefulness or futility of art in times of social crisis. Her interests include the politics of touch and the weight of time. Among other distinctions, she has received the Gluck Fellowship at UCR, a grant from the Tanja Liedtke Foundation and danceWEB, and the Presidential Scholarship for Young Artists of Ukraine (2018). Mariia completed an MA in Experimental Choreography at the University of California, Riverside, and is a certified teacher of inclusive dance practices based on the DanceAbility method.
Yaryna Shumska
Interdisciplinary artist, performer, and curator. Her practice combines performance, painting, object, and site-specific installation. She explores the concept of presence through the lens of absence and loss, using the physical body as a visual sign of communication. She is a recipient of the Gaude Polonia scholarship (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland) and has participated in I-Portunus, Magic Carpets, and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation scholarship programs. She combines artistic practice with teaching and is a co-founder of the Department of Contemporary Art Practices at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, co-curator of the School of Performance (2019), the Performance Archive Ukraine (2021), and the international Performance Days Festival in Lviv in collaboration with the Czech FNAF (2024–2025). She has presented projects at major platforms across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including NIPAF, BIFPA, Arctic Action, and Venice International Performance Art Week.
Anna Nykytiuk
Artist, photographer, stop-motion set designer, and exhibition curator from Khmelnytskyi. She studied Monumental Painting at the Lviv National Academy of Arts. Her artistic practice engages with personal experience and the search for commonality, exploring themes of private and collective trauma, memory, and commemoration. She works with everyday gestures of remembering, domesticity, privacy, and vernacular culture. Anna is a co-author of the project “Situational Flowerbeds,” which creates spaces of collective memory through planting flowerbeds in public spaces. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, including “Nicht Lemberg” (Frankfurt, 2024), “Looking into the Gaps II” (artsvit, dniproccc, 2025), “It’s Only the End of the World” (Pinchuk Art Centre, 2025), and the NOT FOR SALE Pavilion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka.