Sabina Abbasova is an architect and recently graduated from the Department of Architecture and Design, Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction.  In 2015, together with a group of young architects, she founded the organization PILLƏ Atelier, which organizes lectures, workshops and exhibitions about urbanism and architecture. Sabina has participated in international workshops as part of the European Architecture Students Assembly (2012-2015) and Yarat Education and participated in a Capacity Building Training Program for Cultural Managers in 2016.

The PILLƏ architecture studio was founded in November 2015 by a group of young architects.  The team conducts architectural research and works on different topics related to architectural practice. As an architectural organization, PILLƏ is an alternative local platform, examining critical architectural and urban problems and seeking optimal solutions for them.  In addition, the team organizes discussions, prepares presentations, exhibitions, and coordinates workshops.

Anna Chistoserdova is a Belarusian cultural producer and curator. She re-located to Berlin, Germany, after the brutal crackdown on opposition to the Lukashenka regime. Her practice focuses on socially oriented art, cultural cooperation, cultural policy, cultural management, and non-academic education in culture and arts.

Anna’s current initiatives include co-founding and managing the International Coalition of Culture Workers in Solidarity with Ukraine and managing the perspAKTIV residency program for Belarusian culture workers in Germany and Poland. She is a co-founder and manager of Ambasada Kultury, the initiative of Belarusian culture workers and activists to support and develop connections within and outside the Belarusian cultural community, in Belarus and diaspora.

Anna’s career highlights include co-founding and managing the influential Podzemka Gallery in Minsk in 2004 to 2009. She was a co-owner, artistic director, manager, and curator of international culture projects at the “Ў” gallery of contemporary art in Minsk from 2009 to 2020.

As a member of the European Culture Parliament, Natasa – Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform for Culture, Oracle Cultural Network, and TEH, Anna actively promotes international cultural cooperation and networking. Anna served on the Advisory Committee Board of the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme from 2011 to 2014 and received the European Diploma on Cultural Project Management and Cultural Policy in 2014.

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Akylai Kabaeva is an urban planner with a MA in Urban Planning and Development with a particular interest in the ecology of the city. She was working part-time at three jobs and is a student in ArtEast’s School of Contemporary Art. She is an intern at Fauna and Flora International on projects related to conservation, is the Assistant Director of YARAT, the Center of Documentary Photography, and is consultant on urban issues for the NGO Urban Initiatives. Akylai is particularly interested in the relationship between urban planning and the arts and believes that art as a part of the creative economy plays one of the key roles in the development of cities and that art not only reflects social, political, and ecological issues, but also serves as a trigger of change in cities, nations, and the whole world.

YARAT is a newly established Center of Documentary Photography.  The Center has a library of albums and books on documentary photography and conducts lecture courses and photo projects in the field of documentary photography.

Urban Initiatives (UI) is a new NGO that supports citizens and municipal governments to implement their ideas for the development of the city. UI conducts research on the urban environment, organizes seminars and discussions on urban planning, and working with citizens, communities and city administrations.

Anna Pohribna is a Deputy Director of Programming at Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex in Kyiv, supervising museum programs, education, digital transformation, and fundraising. Working for Mystetskyi Arsenal since 2017 as a manager of the exhibition projects, she implemented the mentoring program for the project managers and compiled several publications.

Previously, she was a part of CSM / Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art team, where she implemented several projects focused on public history, public space issues, participatory practices, and community development. In 2020-2022, Anna was also a member of several expert councils and worked on the grant application evaluation.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is a public, state-funded cultural institution that incorporates a variety of artistic disciplines with a museum collection of national significance at the core of its activity. Its projects focus on discussing issues that are significant in the public dialogue, providing space for free creativity concerning the future and comprehension of the past. They include art history, contemporary art, literature, the history of the place, and more.

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Photo credit: Khrystyna Kulakovska