As western leaders worked overnight, in Minsk, to negotiate a cease-fire in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, heavy fighting is said to have escalated. The ceasefire, described as "fragile," goes into effect at midnight [GMT] on Saturday.  Information.

Meanwhile, in the old city of Kiev, overlooking the shipyards of Podil, the Izolyatsia Foundation of Donetsk boldly continues its exhibition, education, and outreach programs in exile mode. Photo above courtesy Izolyatsia. Information.

The Foundation recently presented the symposium, Culture and Conflict: Izolyatsia in Exile, in Paris. It just closed the first exhibition mounted in Kiev after the organization fled Donetsk in the spring. Titled “Revision,” the exhibition includes works created by Belarusian artists group in 2004.

"It is those works that we were allowed to take out from the occupied territory, about 1/3 of what we had. These are mainly paintings and photographs - something that could be easily transferred and loaded into the car," said Alesya Bolot, representative of Izolyatsia. 

In December, in Paris, Izolyatsia presented work by activist artist Sergei Zakharov, “House of Cards,” which parodies separatist leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the joker in the deck.

This show is scheduled to open tomorrow at the port city of Mariupol, near Donetsk, which has been battered by heavy shelling by separatist forces in recent weeks. Information. 

“House of Cards” is the centerpiece of the four-day program, Zmina in Mariupol, which includes master classes in photography, prototyping workshops exploring 3-D printing, and a documentary film program.  Information. The symposium is being presented as part of the Izolyatisia Foundation‘s mission of enabling artists in a post-industrial society to “inspire social and cultural development in Ukraine.”

See Izolyatsia Foundation in DART.