KYIV BIENNIAL 2025: THERE IS NOTHING SOLID ABOUT SOLIDARITY

What does solidarity mean today, in a world increasingly marked by war, migration, and nationalist tendencies? During There Is Nothing Solid About Solidarity, you can experience three days of exhibitions, films, talks, and performances that offer fresh perspectives on connection in a changing world.

There Is Nothing Solid About Solidarity is a satellite program of Kyiv Biennial 2025, developed by the editorial team of MOST magazine (Ewa Borysiewicz, Vera Zalutskaya en Katie Zazenski) together with artist Yulia Krivich.

Through both historic and contemporary frameworks, the programme seeks to further contextualise the idea of Middle East Europe. The notion, which is central to this edition of the Kyiv Biennial, is analyzed through the post-socialist experience – meaning, on the one hand, failed attempts at constructing modern utopias and painful political, ideological and economic transformations; and on the other, the strong cultural exchanges and state-animated “friendships” between, for example, former Socialist Block and Middle East nations in the 20th century.

Today’s reactionary tendencies towards nationalist and fascist movements, together with human rights crises, genocides and wars, expose the frailty of our democratic systems rooted in profit-based alliances. In consideration of this, the programme gathers artists, curators, researchers and collectives who hail from regions widely known as Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, offering a space for interrogation of the institutions and frameworks that have led us to this current geopolitical environment and the initiatives that have flourished as a result.

There Is Nothing Solid About Solidarity presents a spectrum of organisational forms – from individual grassroots projects and community centres to research endeavours that examine historical expressions of solidarity, friendship and allyship.