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Artists and researchers from South Africa to meet at joint residency

The artistic and integrated project will bring together active people from South Africa and Ukraine to reflect on children's rights, cultural responsibility and resources.

CultHub
Artists and researchers from South Africa to meet at joint residency
sculpture In Search of a Lost Home by Serhiy Petlyuk, created for the NIROX Contemporary Sculpture Park in 2024
Photo: from the Ukrainian Institute's Facebook page

The project Shared Ground: Ukraine-South Africa Dialogues, organised by the Ukrainian Institute together with its partners, will take place in South Africa. The Ukrainian Institute writes about it on its Facebook page.

This international project brings together artists and civil society representatives from Ukraine and South Africa to explore how creativity helps build bridges between cultures, experiences, and borders. During their residencies at NIROX and the Kromdraai Impact Hub, participants work on the themes of humanity's relationship with land and water, as well as the rights and well-being of children in times of conflict.

The programme includes creating new artworks, recording two podcasts for the NIROX Dialogues series, and holding the final event on 26 July at NIROX Sculpture Park. Artists, writers and researchers from both countries will gather for a public discussion on children's rights and cultural responsibility, as well as a concert by a South African musician.

The event will feature a panel discussion moderated by Tati Mokgoro and a musical performance by Tubatsi Mpho Moloi.

The panelists will be:

Żanna Słoniowska - Ukrainian-Polish writer and scholar

Hlonipha Mokoena - South African researcher and historian

Anastasiya Shcherban / Olha Fedorova - Ukrainian artists participating in the residency

Tati Mokgoro - moderator, curator of TEDxJohannesburg

The project is organised by the Ukrainian Institute, Nirox Foundation and Kromdraai Impact Hub, with the support of The Cultural Diplomacy Foundation, Democracy Works Foundation, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria (South Africa), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of South Africa and the South African National Heritage Council.

The general partner of the CultHub project is Carpathian Mineral Waters. The company shares LB.ua's belief in the importance of cultural diplomacy and does not interfere with its editorial policy. All project materials are independent and created in accordance with professional standards.