From Soil to Solidarity is a discursive and performative program exploring themes of interconnectivity and colonial influence through the lens of plant cultivation and food practices, focusing on the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the repressive regime of Lukashenko in Belarus. Drawing on Paul Virilio's idea of an accident in which the system of infrastructures and colonial dependencies is illuminated and made more tangible through catastrophe, the project proposes to shift its gaze to Kharkiv --- the place where fierce bombings are now taking place and its inhabitants are being annihilated.

Bridging, as a gesture of solidarity, Kharkiv and Berlin, the event forms a unique network highlighting our interdependencies and colonial subjection through daily practices related to soil and plants.

The workshop „The Cartography of Home Plants as the Cultural Capital of Childhood Memories" offers engaged research practice on colonialism's influence on plant cultivation in Soviet Belarus and Ukraine and how it reflects broader societal differences.

Natasha Chychasova's talk „Millions of Roses for Nobody" discusses the transformative impact of industrialization on natural landscapes and how war has further altered these terrains, turning potential growth into desolation.

Following this, tony lashden's speech „Grandma's Gurki: Home Seedlings and Food Security in Belarus" examines the role of cucumbers, exploring how food security can act as both a colonial instrument and a decolonial response based on the case studies of cucumber farms in Ashmyany (Belarus).

Program

17:00-19:00 The Cartography of Home Plants as the Cultural Capital of Childhood Memories Workshop by Taras Gembik & Marie Manushka
This event will explore the intricate history of home plants, delving into how they shaped childhood memories across different social classes and building our contemporary identities. Discover the middle-class affinity for violets, the upper-class preference for orchids, and the popular home plants during the USSR era. We will also discuss the influence of colonialism on plant cultivation and how it reflects broader societal differences.

19:30-20:00 Natasha Chychasova: Millions of Roses for Nobody
This is a story about landscape changes. It is about how industrial giants rose up in the Wild fields, taking deep roots in the soil and determining the future history of this place. It is about how, as a consequence of the war, something that was supposed to bloom becomes a ghost.

20:00-20:30 tony lashden: Grandma's Gurki: Home Seedlings and Food Security in Belarus
This input will be focused on cucumbers and specially on two instances of growing and utilising cucumbers in Belarus as a home seedling and an industrial vegetable which they are currently investigating for the upcoming novel. Using an example of Ashmyany village and its industrialised way of cultivating cucumbers, in the lecture we will discuss how food/food security became an area of colonial expansion and how home-based relations of care grow to bridge the security gap.

20:30-21:00 Discussion between Natasha Chychasova and tony lashden moderated by Antonina Stebur
17:00--21:00 Live broadcast of the exhibition "Sense of Safety" from Kharkiv, Ukraine

The exhibition "Sense of Safety" in the YermilovCentre (Kharkiv, Ukraine) is featuring works from 32 individual artists and collectives representing over 10 countries, including a significant percentage of new commissions. The exhibition is built around the ambivalence of the concept of safety, which has been profoundly redefined by the war.

From Soil to Solidarity is a cooperation between antiwarcoalition.art, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) and YermilovCentre.Supported by Goethe-Institute Ukraine and Nürnberger Haus, Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania. Partner of Berlin Art Week.

This event is implemented in cooperation between nGbk and antiwarcoalition.art in frames of Berlin Art Week and Bridges of Solidarity program. The Bridges of Solidarity involves more than 20 both well established and grassroot partner institutions (ZKM, Karlsruhe, nGbK, Berlin, Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Roma Community Center in Warsaw, Bouillon Group in Tbilisi, Georgia, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, the Netherlands etc.). Designed to act as bridges, the series of events facilitates two-way interaction and connection between the international community and Kharkiv. These events aim to foster solidarity and mutual support.

The programme is part of the annual antiwarcoalition.art theme Sense of Safety || Lets Dream We Are Equal.