Platform for interdisciplinary practice Open Place (Open Place) is an organisation that grew out of the initiative of artists Yuriy Kruchak and Yulia Kostereva. The organisation’s primary goal is to develop and support grassroots initiatives and present practices based on social engagement. These practices can include various ideas, methods of expression, and actions related to visual arts, design, performance, media art, architecture, research, social action, and economics.
The platform’s activities aimed at facilitating discussions, exchange of opinions, ideas and experiences between artists, curators and various social groups from across Ukraine and other countries to offer possible perspectives on the development of art, politics, socio-cultural transition and transformation. We develop a few interrelated programs that focus on the practices of social engagement, collective coexistence, building horizontal structures and learning on the peer-to-peer principles, in particular:
The International Collaboration Program aims to connect and create international networks of artists, scholars, and institutions, particularly through the organisation and conduct of nomadic educational residencies. These residencies work as a platform for building connections between different contexts and different social and professional groups and developing practical and theoretical knowledge on specific topics related to participatory practices.
The Support Program is a mini-grant competition program aimed at creating opportunities for new artistic works and research, developing skills, and strengthening the professional capacity of Ukrainian actors in the cultural and artistic fields. With funding from CEC ArtsLink, the program was held in 2020 and 2023. We supported 25 artists and artistic groups.
Research program — based on interviews and workshops, we are looking for answers to the following questions: How can we make local audiences our allies and supporters? What resources can we find and create to support our artistic and social practice, working together locally and internationally? Should art teach or learn from the people it works with? How can a group overcome disintegration and barriers that destroy the unity (entity) of a person and community?
Exhibition program — elaborates on methodologies for presenting process-oriented and participatory art practices in group and thematic exhibitions and unfolds the possibilities of participatory models within curatorial practices.
The publishing program. Publications, in particular Source, a non-periodical publication that serves as a display of the research program and presents a set of interviews with people and groups regarding specific complex topics and issues, who have visions of proactive tactics for addressing them.
The residency program is an integral part of Open Place’s activities, which incorporates all the organisation’s areas of focus, providing an opportunity to create and implement knowledge, explore issues, build local and international partnerships, test approaches and develop research. Since 2005, we have hosted in Ukraine over 50 international researchers, artists and curators from Austria, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Taiwan. With the support of CEC ArtsLink and in cooperation with the Oberliht Association, Open Place held the residencies in Odesa, Ukraine, in 2019 and Chisinau, Moldova, in 2022. Also, with the support of other foundations, in 2020 in Uzhhorod, Ukraine (Tandem Ukraine) and 2021 in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development). The residencies are a valuable tool for developing transborder connections, understanding contexts, accepting the other, and developing communication and interaction practices at different levels.