INDEX Veteran Fellow 2026 (2nd cycle) Announced
INDEX is pleased to announce a new participant of the Veteran Fellowship 2026. Nazar Pavlyk will be working on his own literary project from October to December 2026 in Lviv.
About the Participant
Nazar Pavlyk is a veteran, actor, director and musician. Founder and acting tutor at the 'Ptah' Theatre Studio, sound engineer and composer for the 'Voices of Defenders' and 'Stories of Warriors' projects. Since 2025, he has been an actor and director at the First Academic Ukrainian Theatre for Children and Youth.
As part of the programme, Nazar Pavlyk will focus on writing his own pieces, exploring the tension and misunderstandings between civilians and veterans upon their return home:
My project will focus on the military experience and the complex process of a servicemember’s return to civilian life. For me, this is not just a subject for a book, but also a way to make sense of the reality of war and to discuss the changes a person undergoes upon returning. It is important to me to explore not only active service itself, but also what happens afterwards: how relationships, habits, and perceptions of oneself and one’s place among civilians change. As this will be my first literary experience, I expect INDEX to provide the professional environment and support that I lack to get started on my own.
Nazar Pavlyk, participant in the second cycle of the INDEX Veteran Programme 2026
Comments from the Selection Committee
For me the INDEX Veteran Programme 2026 is an opportunity for veterans to nurture and develop their talents and to be visible in the public space. It offers post-service transition support that helps them to hone their skills, make their voices heard, and pursue projects that previously might have been limited to just 15 days of leave every six months with 'plus three days for travel', or even less. The programme should provide a space for exploration, exchanging ideas, and engagement with audiences—both for new voices and for those who are returning to their creative and intellectual pursuits.
Vladyslav Starodubtsev, Veteran Programme Curator
Nazar Pavlyk draws upon his own experience of returning from the front. He immediately threw himself into theater work, sound work; and the emotions he describes are deeply touching and leave no one indifferent.
Liana Mytsko, selection committee participant
On returning to civilian life, veterans face many challenges—administrative, bureaucratic, domestic, professional and psychological. Above all, this stems from a lack of understanding of how war changes a person, and the fact that war experience must be taken into account. We are often insensitive and inconsiderate towards those with military experience. The project by theatre and film actor and stage director Nazar Pavlyk aims to make the complex processes of veterans’ reintegration more visible. The literary form chosen by the Veteran Programme's second cycle Fellow opens up a new tool to help process what he has experienced. Here at INDEX, we strive to create a supportive community that fosters the development of our veterans’ cultural projects.
Olesya Yaremchuk, selection committee participant and INDEX’s programme curator
Nazar Pavlyk is an artist and a soldier who has been through combat yet retained the ability to find joy and spread it to others. Following a difficult return to so-called 'peaceful' life, Nazar has thrown himself into dozens of artistic and veterans’ projects that help us come to terms with the war and heal psychologically. Among the many things he does are directing plays ('The Wooden Snowman' ('Derevianyi Snihovyk'), 'Kotyhoroshko', 'The Little Prince'), theatre workshops with veterans, the audio recording of veterans’ short stories 'Voices of Defenders', the audio journey for veterans 'Odyssey', the '79014records' studio and 'Homin Centre', and many other activities. With his experience, integrity and zest for life, the short story and one-man show that Nazar plans to write thanks to the scholarship will undoubtedly become yet another authentic testimony to a unique historical moment and the feelings of the extraordinary people with whom we have the honour of being alongside.
Yurii Vovkohon, selection committee participant
The INDEX Veteran Programme, supported by Razom for Ukraine, provides our research community with access to the testimonies of artists who have served in the military. Veterans work side by side with international Scholars in Residence, which INDEX runs with the support of the ERSTE Foundation. Through joint events, workshops and informal exchanges, journalists and researchers from abroad gain access to embodied, contextualised knowledge about experiences of armed resistance to Russian aggression, whilst participants in the Veterans’ Programme expand their international networks. We look forward to working with Nazar Pavlyk on his documentary projects and, together, exploring ways to deepen their impact both within the country and abroad.
Sasha Dovzhyk, head of INDEX and selection committee participant
This material was prepared with the support of the RAZOM Foundation.