Cultural ecosystems play a crucial role in fostering community resilience, social cohesion, and economic growth. Political marginalization, war, global health crises, and long-term disinvestment have exposed the fragility and limitations of the structures that support these ecosystems.
CEC ArtsLink and the Culture & Arts Policy Institute collaborated on a public presentation to explore bottom-up models of cultural governance and the values and practices to cultivate thriving cultural landscapes. From rebuilding Ukraine’s cultural infrastructure after the Russian full-scale invasion to countering political oppression and marginalization across the Caucasus and Central Asia, and fostering networks of safety and solidarity in New York City, this discussion defines typologies for creating, expanding, and sustaining new cultural ecologies that are shaped by lived experience.
The panel was facilitated by Gonzalo Casals, Co-Director of the Culture & Arts Policy Institute (NYC), and featured ArtsLink Fellows Tamara Janashia, Director of the Culture and Management Lab (Georgia) and Hnat Zabrodskyy, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Pavilion of Culture CF (Ukraine), together with Randi Berry, Director of IndieSpace (NYC). Ukrainian artist and ArtsLink Fellow Daria Pugachova engaged the audience in her participatory project Shelter for Freedom.
