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Exhibition

The “Wild Field”: Nature vs Culture

The myth of the “Wild Field”, characterized by a bewitching “emptiness” and inhabited by charismatic nomadic inhabitants, has captured the imagination of writers and the public across time. Writing...


On the Tracks of Progress

The railway panorama is an important visual genre from the era of industrialization. These photographs often include trains travelling along railway tracks, as if cutting through virgin lands, draw...


In the Belly of the Earth: the Mine and the Quarry

Photography can show the conquest of space not only in a horizontal but also in a vertical sense. Photographs of Donbas have often featured mines, miners, work underground, slag heaps, and headfram...


Engineers Conquering Nature

Photographs of the construction of the 133km Siverskyi Donets – Donbas channel, built in 1955–1958, beam with technological optimism about the development of Ukraine’s climateadverse regions. The “...


Welfare and Abundance

In the industrial era, success was understood as the steady increase of production relative to the exploitation of new resources. It was an economy of continuous expansion based on population growt...


Park of Culture and Leisure

Festive photographs of consumption and leisure would often be taken “in nature’s embrace”. Parks are typical urban spaces, oases of nature offering recreation amidst urban environments. At the same...


Sviatohirsk: An oasis amidst industry

In the late19th century, the drama of global industrialization played out on the grasslands of Donbas. At the factory, people were exhausted by their contribution to industrial production. By contr...


In Harmony with Nature?

In the industrial age, nature [priroda] was understood widely as both a resource for industry and for leisure. Landscape photography was a globally popular genre too. In these photos, nature often ...


Care and Protection

On June 30, 1960, in an effort to counter further damage to the environment, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR passed the law “On the Protection of Nature.” This was the first legislation of ...


Ecocide and Ecological Revolution in the Late 1980s

In the late 1980s, the state’s failure to balance economic growth and ecological preservation became increasingly obvious. In conditions of economic decline, arguments about prioritizing industrial...


The “second life” of Industrial Heritage

The disintegration of industrial structures, a corollary of deindustrialization and economic depression, has prompted new kinds of engagement with and awareness of the industrial past. In our archi...


Ecology and "The Tragedy of The Commons"

Throughout human history, the environment has prompted us to act in solidarity and through joint action. Out of fear, emotion, compassion for nature, a sense of shame about the damage done, and ang...


The War in Donbas is the War Against the Environment

Russia's war against Ukraine, which began with the annexation of Crimea and the hostilities in Donbas in the Spring of 2014, exacerbated Europe's environmental security problems. Many heavy...