Solomiya no. 4, The Environmental Issue

The first monothematic issue of Solomiya – The Environmental Issue – brings together the work of artists and researchers reflecting on and advocating for more-than-human communities and ecologies of Ukraine. In collaboration with the Ukrainian Environmental Humanities Network (UEHN)—an international collective of curators, artists, and scholars—we’ve created an issue that celebrates the richness and complexity of Ukrainian landscapes. This issue offers a diverse range of perspectives, amplifying voices that challenge the colonial, imperial, and extractive narratives that have long shaped external perceptions of Ukraine’s environment.

The authors and artists embark on a journey through various regions: from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Polissya to the Kakhovka Dam in the Kherson region to the humid, vibrant ecosystems around Odesa and the agricultural landscapes of Luhansk and Kropyvnytskyi. Shrinking rivers, scientific collections in exile, traditional ecological knowledge, the effects of the nuclear disaster and the consequences of agricultural exploitation are just some of the topics covered in this issue.