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UAx Community of Solidarity

UAx Community of Solidarity

In February 2022, ELIA firmly condemned Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine. By November, in partnership with the Abakanowicz Foundation, we launched the UAx Platform, providing urgent support to Ukrainian art students and their universities.

UAx nurtures a vibrant, collaborative community, offering full ELIA membership to 15 Ukrainian art universities, linking them to a network of over 285 institutions. This platform fosters meaningful dialogue, shared resources, and peer learning, forging a supportive, knowledge-rich network.

UAx also advocates for Ukrainian students and educators, raising awareness about their needs and the importance of sustained international support for Ukraine’s cultural recovery.

Community activities

UAx extends full ELIA membership to 15 Ukrainian arts universities, granting access to over 285 institutions, online resources, and strong advocacy. UAx also sponsors travel and accommodation for Ukrainian representatives to attend key ELIA events.

The UAx Day is a full-day event taking place one day prior to an international ELIA conference. The event gathers representatives from Ukrainian Sister Schools alongside their international partner schools. UAx Day is a unique opportunity for our community to come together, exchange ideas, and lay the groundwork for future projects. UAx Days held so far: 

  • UAx Day at the ELIA Biennial Conference in Helsinki (November 2022)
  • UAx Day at the ELIA Academy on Teaching and Learning, Évora, Portugal (May 2023)
  • UAx Day at the ELIA Leadership Symposium, Manchester, UK (October 2023)
  • UAx Day at the ELIA Biennial in Milan, Italy (2024)

The community participates in the rich ELIA conference programme after the UAx Day. Ukrainian participants are frequently invited to participate as speakers. Their involvement enhances the exchange of perspectives and enriched the overall discourse within the ELIA community.

The UAx Platform actively organises a variety of events that are designed to promote collaboration, facilitate knowledge sharing, and foster artistic development of the coommunity. The community meets once a month to update and seek feedback from the community; and to facilitate resource sharing, knowledge exchange, and peer learning. These gatherings play a pivotal role in fostering a sense of connection among peers, enabling them to share expertise and contribute on equal terms to collaborative processes, activities, and outcomes that feed into the project.

UAx amplifies the voices of Ukrainian art students and educators through public statements, participation in policy discussions, and targeted campaigns that highlight the critical needs of higher arts education in times of crisis. By shedding light on the war's impact on students and advocating for sustained international support of higher arts education in crisis, UAx remains committed to ensuring that Ukraine’s cultural and educational sectors receive the attention and resources they need for resilience and recovery. Notably, the advocacy campaign at the Vilnius conference Towards the Recovery of the Culture Sector of Ukraine underscored the urgency of Ukraine's cultural recovery, calling for long-term support from international partners.

One of the initial goals of UAx is to serve as a model for ELIA in addressing other crisis-affected higher art education communities globally. Reflection and research are needed to extract the lessons learned from the three years of the platform’s legacy. Documenting challenges faced by arts communities in conflict zones and identifying strategies for resilient collaboration could be important as ELIA strengthens its strategic focus on advocacy and plurality, raising a voice for democracy and shaping participatory futures.

Member Resources

Community Arts and Health in Ukraine: ELIA's UAx Training Programme the Vilnius International Conference

An online training programme led by Rachel Chainey from Concordia University, designed to equip Ukrainian higher arts educators with the skills and methods needed to foster inclusive, arts-based community spaces for healing, health, and well-being.

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Towards the Recovery of the Culture Sector of Ukraine: ELIA’s Role at the Vilnius International Conference

At the June 2024 International Conference in Vilnius, UAx Platform joined UNESCO, Ukrainian authorities, and over 40 international organisations to adopt a joint action plan for Ukraine’s cultural recovery.health, and well-being.

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Artistic Research and Beyond: ELIA’s UAx Online Symposium

A four-week online symposium in partnership with Ukrainian and European sister schools, aimed at advancing doctoral programmes and artistic research in Ukraine through international good practices and collaborative dialogue.

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Holding Identity: The Case of Emerging Ukrainian Artists

In this talk, Rebecca Duclos explores the profound challenges faced by Ukrainian art students amid the ongoing conflict, highlighting their resilience and deepening sense of identity.aimed at advancing doctoral

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