Eliza Mamardashvili and Dybach Iryna are Ukrainian artists who will stay in Novi Sad for two months thanks to the call launched by the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation within the programme for artistic residencies ‘Artist in Residence’. Their residence is part of the ‘Fortress of Peace’ programme arch that focuses on the consequences of war and the importance of promoting policies of peace and togetherness, while the two artists come to Novi Sad at the very beginning of the ‘Heroines’ programme arch, which begins on 18 May and promotes and encourages female culture, art, creativity and heritage, to create a more righteous and gender-equal society.

Eliza Mamardashvili was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in 1987. She received her master’s degree at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts. She is interested in the topics of remembrance, conflicts and national identity, evoking her Georgian origin. She is a performer and uses other forms of art such as installations, objects, paintings and photographs. She participated in different art symposiums, exhibited at numerous group exhibitions, while in 2020, she held an individual exhibition. She lives and works in Kyiv.

Dybach Iryna was born in the Rivne region, Ukraine, in 1997. During her studies, she worked in an art atelier, while after receiving her master’s degree in the field of fine art at the Rivne State University of Humanities, she started teaching at the Kornyn School of Art. Through her creative work, she dealt with the topics of violence against women, psychological and physical, and violence in wars.

Expressing sympathy for all victims of the war and promoting peace as the main message at the moment, the Foundation invited artists to stay and continue to create their works in Novi Sad, this year’s European Capital of Culture. The residents will be provided with accommodation and all the necessary materials for their work, and the results of the works of Ukrainian artists will be subsequently included in the official programme of the European Capital of Culture in June and July this year, within the ‘Fortress of Peace’ programme arch.

The ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation team provided free public transport for refugees from Ukraine, who are accommodated in Novi Sad, by a voluntary allocation from personal income, in coordination with the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the City Administration for Social and Child Protection of the City of Novi Sad, from which information on the needs of refugees was obtained. Based on the cooperation and information from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the City Administration for Social and Child Protection City of Novi Sad, the ‘Novi Sad V European Capital of Culture’ Foundation will continue with the initiative to help and support refugees from Ukraine.