The Salt of My Earth— Book Presentation
On 3 August at 17:00, IZOLYATSIA Platform for Cultural Initiatives invites you to the online presentation of the book «Salt of My Land», a participatory photography project by Oleksandra Claude featuring women from the Soledар community. The event will be held in Ukrainian.
«Salt of My Land» is a project about memory, home, and the experience of forced displacement. From January to May 2026, photographer and psychologist Oleksandra Claude, originally from Donetsk, led a series of photography workshops with women who were forced to leave their homes in the Soledар community following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Participants worked with disposable film cameras, creating self-portraits and photographing loved ones, places, and objects that evoke home and a sense of inner strength. For many, these images became a way to reconnect with their own histories, especially for those who lost family photo albums during evacuation.
The book brings together photographs, autobiographical testimonies, and participants' reflections on home, displacement, family ties, and life after loss, becoming part of the shared memory of Donbas and Ukraine.
The presentation is part of the Heritage: Space for Work capacity-building and networking programme for local cultural actors.
Programme
1. Presentation of the Heritage: Space for Work programme
2. Notes on the residency programme methodology
3. Presentation by Oleksandra Claude
4. Reflections from participants
5. Q&A and closing remarks
Project author
Oleksandra Claude
Project curator
Lusia Nychay
Project manager
Natalia Tyshchuk
The Heritage: Space for Work capacity-building and networking programme for local cultural actors is supported by the Partnership for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden. The aim of the Programme is to strengthen Ukraine's resilience in the face of Russian aggression by providing critically important support to local communities in cooperation with Ukrainian state bodies, civil society, media, and the private sector.