"Networks of support": A Special Issue of the Magazine "autoportret"

As part of the "Networks of Support" project, a special issue of the quarterly magazine "autoportret" (Malopolska Institute of Culture) was published.

The issue includes summaries of research and events, interviews, as well as texts and visual materials from the experts involved and artists who focus in different ways on the study of architecture and urban space and the changes that occur in times of crisis. In times of war, architecture – shelters, buildings, walls in apartment buildings that absorb the shock waves of explosions – become an important component of saving lives, as does infrastructure: water supply, railroad connections, the Internet, etc. However, in times of crisis, human connections, commitment, and cooperation are also critical to survival.

The team of the Center for Urban History, in cooperation with the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning / Narodowy Instytut Architektury i Urbanistyki (NIAU), is joining the co-creation of the "Networks of Support" project in 2023-2024, addressing the topic of invisible but valuable social infrastructure for survival, including culture and imagination.

The constant risk and accompanying problems caused by the war require solutions and actions. Among the questions that the Center's team set for itself in this project: How do cultural heritage institutions cope with the challenges of war? How does cultural heritage infrastructure build a support network for professionals? How do Russian attacks on critical infrastructure affect the daily workflow? Finally, how do critical infrastructure workers overcome the challenges of war?

Thus, interviews were conducted with specialists working in the field of cultural heritage protection in Ukraine, workers and managers employed in critical Ukrainian infrastructure. The geography of the recorded interviews is wide and covers the experiences of Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Lviv, Drohobych, Kharkiv, and Odesa. The project also recorded conversations with medical infrastructure workers, whose facilities are often attacked by Russia. In particular, the interviews focused on the rehabilitation and support of veterans, including many people with acquired disabilities, military personnel wounded in combat, and civilians affected by Russian military aggression.

This project is financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland under the Inspiring Culture Programme.

Project partners

• National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, Warsaw;
• Center for Urban History, Lviv;
• VI PER Gallery, Prague;
• Ukrainian Association "Vitsche", Berlin

Project strategic local partners

• Polish Institute in Prague;
• Polish Institute in Kyiv;
• Pilecki Institute Berlin

Credits

Cover Image: A fragment of the cover "autoportret" № 85 // Emiliano Rannocchi // autoportret.pl