“Graderning of Soul: In Five Chapters” is an international group exhibition that opened on December 8, 2022, and lasted until March 11, 2023. The project was realized in the city of Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.

Tetiana Tumasyan, the director of the Municipal Gallery, participated in a roundtable discussion, attended the opening, took part in the project’s presentation, and served as a curator representing Ukrainian artists. The first part of the project, “GARDENING OF SOUL: INTRODUCTION,” featured Sasha Kurmaz’s project. Sasha participated in the Second Biennale of Young Art held in Kharkiv in 2019, organized by the Municipal Gallery team.

The next stage will be an art residency in which Olya Fedorova will participate on behalf of the Municipal Gallery. The project, planned until 2025, will continue with other exhibitions, including those in the participating countries.

Ústí nad Labem is a Czech city with a strong art faculty and an excellent House of Arts, where the international project was exhibited for three months, bringing together an interesting group of people and professionals from around the world. The exhibition “Garden of the Soul: Introduction” is conceived as a presentation of various artistic practices focused on the theme of gardens and gardening, which is metaphorically perceived. The House of Arts in Ústí nad Labem collaborated with nine institutions from Ukraine, Croatia, Italy, Iceland, South Africa, Germany, Austria, Hong Kong, and the USA in selecting artists and specific artworks for this exhibition. Using documentary formats or re-installations, the exhibition showcases artworks initially conceived for public spaces and actively responding to the social situation that influences, defines, or develops the character of a specific place and its communal use. These artistic projects are inspired by the desire to build imaginary gardens understood as places of shared responsibility and determination.

The aim of the project is to make contemporary art accessible through the implementation of artistic and design works in public spaces, thematic international exhibitions, and interdisciplinary conferences. Placed in an international art context, the project “GARDEN OF THE SOUL: IN FIVE CHAPTERS” focuses on establishing a connection between current artistic expression and various social actions that have emerged from the desire to cultivate and nurture one’s environment. This tendency is metaphorically described as a form of collective gardening. Gardens and the work associated with their development and maintenance are undoubtedly metaphorically linked to people’s determination to expand and share a specific space while finding fulfillment in both material and existential needs.

Although the phenomenon of gardening naturally changes in different communities and climatic conditions, it always has tremendous potential for fostering cooperation, communication, and shared production deeply connected to the surrounding environment and the purposeful activities of a specific community. Through the implementation of 17 artworks installed in public spaces, the project brings together participating art institutions and invited artists from ten countries on four continents with representatives of these countries’ communities. This will provide them with the opportunity to work together, aiming to construct symbolic places that emerge from the dialogue between different forms of artistic projects and the act of improving forgotten or otherwise overlooked places.

The selection of artists depended on the locations where participating art institutions work, emphasizing the work with specific places and communities.