WE SEE UKRAINE is a collaborative visual and performing arts project, exploring the various imprints of the war in Ukraine. The project is executed with the financial support of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and the Bulgarian National Culture Fund. We measure those imprints through three instruments – the use of language, the relation of people to objects, and the human body as an instrument for change and communication. We base the project on previous work we have done in the field of documentary and visual art. The project has three components that will build on the experiences of ordinary Ukrainians: refugees or people who have already managed to return to their homes – or what was left of them – in Ukraine.

As the project will take place over the year 2023, none of knows what the situation will be like at any given moment for Ukraine and its people, and for the rest of Europe. What we do know is, that all those misplaced people (5.2 million people by April 25, 2022, over 40000 of them in Bulgaria, 11000 in Croatia) will still be struggling in relation to their new lives and homes in new countries – or with rebuilding their homes and sense of belonging in their homeland. Six visual artists selected through an open call of over 170 applicants, from the three partner countries - Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine – will work within this framework to create a joint exhibition and a performance that will reflect the situation of the Ukrainian people at the time of the project. It will be a true collaborative work, with two in person artist workshops in Sofia and in Zagreb framing the co-creative work, and a continuous online collaboration process resulting in the final exhibits in the three countries.

There will be stories to tell, and the aim of our project is to connect artists – Ukrainian and local, refugees and residents – to put their hands, heads and hearts together to come up with a visual way to tell them.