Colored lenses: Life Among Others

People are different. The diversity of values and traditions shapes the multiple universes of culture, and everyone acquires their own optics—coloured glasses through which the world is seen. Cultural contexts are being stratified day by day and new world views are encountered, conflicts created and resolved. When a person encounters something unfamiliar, there is a hesitation, “How to interact with others?” The search for ways to understand continues in public and state discourses, taking the form of various political concepts.

Multiculturalism as an ideology focuses on preserving cultural differences, supporting them at the state level. Ukraine has adopted a policy of equality between all national and ethnic groups, as it has a complex cultural landscape. However, this process is surrounded by many questions. How are the day-to-day conflicts within and between groups resolved? What cultures interact in Ukraine? How equitable are they?

The exhibition project considers the mobile cultural landscape of the country, focusing on five underlining subjects:

- Stereotypes: How are biases towards others formed and broken?
- Historical roots: research into cultural codes one considers one’s own and issues of cultural affiliation;
- The image of culture: formation, transformation, and layering;
- Historical design mechanisms: working with archives and cultural heritage;
- The image of home: finding and defining a place among others.

The exhibition includes projects that raise issues of the past and present Ukrainian cultural space. What answers does multiculturalism offer and how can it help resolve conflicts? Are the values of multiculturalism as an ideology compatible with Ukrainian realities? We invite you to reflect on these issues.