The Beyond The Silence project has announced the names of Ukrainian and international participants

In the frame of the Beyond The Silence project, 8 authors from Ukraine, Mexico, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, and Magnum Photos photographers will work on researching complex socio-political topics.

“Beyond the Silence” is a collaborative project organised by Magnum Photos in partnership with Odesa Photo Days Festival (Ukraine), Centro de las Artes San Agustín (Mexico), Africa Artists’ Foundation (Nigeria), Vlast (Kazakhstan), and the Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops (Cambodia), with the support of the Open Society Foundations and Ukrainian Institute.

The project is curated by Kateryna Radchenko, founder of Odesa Photo Days, coordinated by Magnum Photos via Editorial director Giulietta Palumbo. 

Its goal is to provoke a dialog about important issues of our time and give a voice to local authors from different regions.

During the first stage of the Beyond The Silence project, 64 authors from 5 countries took part in a one-day online workshop with Fred Ritchin, Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography (ICP). The workshop was dedicated to discussing the development of long-term projects, visual storytelling, and methods of working with complex topics.

According to the results of the second stage of the selection process, 8 photographers became participants of Beyond The Silence and will work together with each other and Magnum photographers for 3 months:

  • Sasha Kurmaz (Ukraine) – Daniel Orlando Lara Garcia (Mexico) – Rafal Milach (Poland, Magnum Photos),
  • Ira Lupu (Ukraine) – Fawaz Oyediji (Nigeria) – Newsha Tavakolian (Iran, Magnum Photos),
  • Daria Svertilova (Ukraine) – Sai ▇▇▇ (Myanmar) –  Antoine d’Agata (France, Magnum Photos),
  • Mykhaylo Palinchak (Ukraine) – Yadykar Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) –  Thomas Dworzak (Germany, Magnum Photos).

They will receive a grant of $3,000 to create their project on one of the topics: “Censorship/Freedom of Speech”, “Territory. Occupied/Illegally Annexed”, “Kidnapping & Abduction”, and “Fight/Adaptation”. The online collaboration is aimed at sharing experiences from different countries, advice, and support from each other, as well as an opportunity to look at the research topic from a different angle.

The joint work and the Beyond The Silence project will result in exhibitions in Ukraine and partner countries that will take place in late 2024 and early 2025.