Name of the organization/initiative and year of foundation

Alevtina Kakhidze is an artist who has been working systematically on peacebuilding since 2014.

Mission

Art for introspection and critical thinking; the political mission of visual art.

Actions and projects in the context of armed conflict

Alevtina Kakhidze is an artist, performer, curator, teacher, and gardener. She was born in Zhdanivka (Donetsk oblast) but has been living in the village of Muzychi since 2008. She is the co-founder and curator of the private residence for international artists called “The Extended History of Muzychi”. Alevtina developed a methodology of “thinking through drawing” and teaches art for children based on this methodology. In her gardening projects, she developed the terms “adult garden” and “totalitarian flowerbed”. Since 2013, she has been creating visual materials on the themes of Euromaidan and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Alevtina Kakhidze is the UN Envoy of Tolerance and takes part in communication campaign for tolerance in Ukrainian society initiated by the UN Development Program in Ukraine. The project team focuses on developing a regional network of leaders who will become the promoters of the ideas and values of respect, mutual understanding, and human rights at the regional level in Ukraine.

Alevtina Kakhidze’s projects on the topic of dealing with conflicts:

 “Method of constructing political truth” (December 2018), Mystetsky Arsenal. The artist gave answers to critical political questions posed by the audience and presented different positions and experiences of the Tourist, the Mediator, the Fighter with Electricity (a person who talks about events experienced personally, not borrowed from TV), and the Gardener.

“Klubnika Andreevna” (April 2014 – 16th January 2019). In this project, the artist carefully documented through texts and drawings daily life of her mother, whom she calls Klubnika Andreevna, and who had been living at the non-governmentally controlled area since April 2014. The works depict moments of her life: calling to her daughter from the cemetery because only there one could find mobile connection; crossing checkpoints under shelling, etc. This project was interrupted by Alevtina’s mother’s death at the checkpoint on January 16, 2019. Art as a means of conveying personal history is a powerful way to rehumanize the “other” and actualize the problem.

“Seeds of Ukraine” – Alevtina Kakhidze has constructed a moving stall for collecting seeds, and plans to get closer to the “zero zone” with the stall – the point where the occupied part of Donbas begins – by the first days of spring when the time comes to plant the seeds. The collection of seeds started on February 25 at the Ivan Honchar Museum. In exchange for the brought seeds, the artist accepted special orders – something to be brought back from the Donbas’ occupied part. On August 21, Alevtina set off to the “zero zone” (Stanytsa Luhanska) to exchange seeds for the ordered items. The project is still ongoing.

“HURTOBUS”  (2019-2020). The project was created by the Platform for Cultural Initiatives “Izoliatsia” in cooperation with the US Embassy in Ukraine a bus was transformed into a mobile cultural center for master classes, lectures, interactive projects, etc. The project’s goal is to popularize contemporary art and culture in the most remote places of Ukraine, support the decentralization of the cultural sector, and stimulate its development in small towns and villages.