Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, keeping diaries has become an essential way of documenting wartime experiences and witnessing the historical rupture. This monthly project collects sketches from the INDEX community members (or “narysy” in Ukrainian) from their time in Lviv, their observations during fieldwork across the country, memories, and reflections that offer a glimpse into daily life in Ukraine.
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This piece offer a nuanced reflection on roots and rootlessness, relationship between Ukrainian diaspora and Ukrainians in Ukraine, and how a historian of the post-WWII Soviet Union contributes to the mission of the institution which documents the ongoing Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In a series of diary entries, Kateryna Iakovlenko captures the atmosphere of wartime — from fleeting images and weather patterns to funerals, street scenes, and moments of quiet resistance.
Photojournalist Diana Deliurman's essay documents the painful search for the missing soldiers. Through the story of one woman’s year-long quest to confirm her husband’s fate, she reflects on the emotional side of reporting, the limits of distance, and the rituals of hope and grief.
In her piece, Kotišová reflects on the privileges and luxuries interrupted by the war. She writes about the deeply embodied experience of living in Lviv, hence being a little closer to the war zone — feelings and reactions one cannot access without being physically present—and the importance of self-care as a form of resistance.
Kishchuk explores how war reshapes not only our sensibility toward landscapes but also our consciousness itself. Through vivid dream sequences and reflections on drone footage from the frontlines, she examines the paradox of loving distant places one cannot touch.
This volume of Narysy brings together two powerful texts that capture the raw immediacy of frontline cities, Kharkiv and Sumy.
This volume of Narysy brings together two powerful texts that capture the raw immediacy of frontline cities, Kharkiv and Sumy.
This issue has come together around the theme of theatre—though perhaps, in wartime, theatre manifests itself as a quiet undercurrent, resurfacing where language alone cannot reach.
This issue has come together around the theme of theatre—though perhaps, in wartime, theatre manifests itself as a quiet undercurrent, resurfacing where language alone cannot reach.
Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, a poet, translator, and curator, presents a poetic and intimate curatorial essay for the exhibition Roman Chornomaz: The Optics of Battle, biography of Roman Chornomaz, a photographer, activist, and soldier who swapped his camera lens for a sniper rifle.
Filmmaker and environmental humanities scholar Karolina Uskakovych looks into a layered urban experience, gathering fragments of words, street signs, and fleeting impressions, and transforming them into evocative poetic forms.
INDEX’s Fellow, artist, and war veteran Bohdan Bunchak presents his latest video artwork, Who Will Go for Us, created during his Fellowship at INDEX in autumn 2024. Bunchak explores PTSD, and the struggle of returning to civilian life after combat experience.
