Today we finally reviewed our reflections, findings and thoughts about Mariupol and our ideas on how to intervene with the city. All the residents had a chance to learn about each others projects. AU reviews are an important part of the residency project. We aim to review the progress of the residency projects weekly and have in depth discussions on topics such as urbanism, public space and the city, architecture, life in conflict zones and others. Its about sharing ideas to learn more about Ukraine and its particularities. We are looking forward to reviews with our first external experts next week.

On the second part of the day we hosted two lectures. Viktor Zotov talked about his experience with Telychka – the struggles, ambitions and thinking behind an inspiring project in Kiev.

 

The second lecture was by Dr. of History, Prof. of Sociology Oksana Mikheeva. She talked about Monuments and public space of the city (in Donetsk). The researcher described the formation of the visual landscapes of the city and the development of urban public culture.

According to Mikheeva, Donetsk was the battle ground for public space of the city for a long time. This the reason why public space in the city become a space for nobody. Today, the city is not only a struggle for space, but also a struggle for the peoples mentality, their way of thinking. Who will win in this war? What is the public space of conflict?

The Lecture was organizing by Donbas Studies Research Project.