Rada Leu and Rana Yazaji examine the role of communal artistic practices in the context of war and conflict, focusing on community building practices from Eastern Europe. The project invites practitioners from Armenia and Moldova to share their approaches in community building during times of crisis. The research results in a dialogical documentation of artistic practices and their potential and limitations, with particular attention to the aesthetics of process-oriented community building art.
The project examines the role of communal artistic practices in the context of war and conflict. It particularly focuses on community building practices from Eastern Europe. Starting from the idea that small and localized practices are well-suited to addressing the complexities of large geopolitical conflicts, it invites practitioners from Armenia and Moldova to share their approaches in community building in times of crisis. The project results in a dialogical documentation of artistic practices, their potentials and limitations in the Armenian and Moldovan contexts. Most importantly, the account focuses on the aesthetics of process oriented community building art.
Both Armenia and Moldova have been affected by war and displacement, which also transformed the artistic systems and institutions. Artists face precarity and existential uncertainties, heightened by a complex relation to art institutions.
In this context, our central research questions are: How do these practices provide a sense of agency in times where all routes to self-determination seem to be cut off by armed conflict? What functions can the aesthetic experience have for those impacted by war and displacement? Which aspects of a communist past linger in the frameworks of Eastern European countries, and how do artists address these? How is war represented and how are these representations processed by artists and their audience? What is the role of institutions in these contexts? Is there artistic autonomy when facing existential threats? Which forms of knowledge can be produced in contexts shaped by uncertainty?
Artists and community organizers from Armenia and Moldova are invited to present their practices, unpack their processes, and partake in conversations centred around the transformative role of art in peaceful social change.
After a three-day workshop with Zurich-based peers from research and community organizing, the outcomes are shared in a format open to students of ZHdK. The encounter is organized in the format of interconnected events around the topic of collaboration and self-organization in times of war. The timeframe for this project is between September and October 2025.
As we have realized that independent publishing practices are a vital part of many of the Armenian and Moldovan artistic activities, we would like to conceptualize and distribute the results of the workshop in a form that resonates with these approaches.
Place and dates: September – October 2025 In Zurich, ZHdK/Toni Areal
Weblink: The research grant builds upon insights gathered in the framework of the research project "Contemporary Art, Popular Culture and Peacebuilding in Eastern Europe". The project website is: https://blog.zhdk.ch/smallpeace/
Project partner / cooperations: Research project Contemporary Art Popular Culture and Peacebuilding in Eastern Europe. Coalition of Independent Cultural Sector of Moldova (CSCRIM)