On September 4–6, 2026, Dnipro will host “ZALIZNYAK-fest / RESTORATION / DNIPRO”—a festival of photography, memory, cultural heritage, and community dialogue, which was launched in Pokrovsk and revived on a new scale following the community’s forced displacement.
The festival exemplifies how initiatives from the Donetsk region continue to thrive, evolve, and forge new connections beyond the region’s borders.
At the heart of the three-day program are the Donetsk region and its people, local identity, photographic heritage, memories of home, the experience of forced displacement, and the interaction between displaced and host communities.
On the first day, the exhibition project “People of the Great Steppe: Donetsk Region” will be presented—stories of remarkable individuals who have shaped the region’s cultural, educational, scientific, athletic, and civic spheres.
The second day of the festival will be largely dedicated to the Pokrovsk community. The exhibition “Voices of Pokrovsk Residents” will bring together personal stories about home, evacuation, and maintaining ties with their community. On the same day, there will be a presentation of the book “Pokrovsk in My Heart,” and the festival space will be complemented by creative workshops and interactive installations related to memory, heritage, and personal stories.
A special place in the program is reserved for Mark Zaliznyak and his photographic legacy.
On September 6, the Yavornytskyi National Historical Museum in Dnipropetrovsk will host the comic book exhibition “Dmytro Yavornytskyi and Marko Zaliznyak. A Photo Expedition to 1931,” and a discussion will take place regarding Volodymyr Havshchuk’s book “Marko Zaliznyak: Photos.”
The festival will conclude at the Dnipro Art Museum with the exhibition “Your Last Photo from Pokrovsk and Your First from Dnipro+.” Through personal photographs taken by community members, it tells the story of displacement, focusing on two images—the last one from their hometown and the first one in their new home.
“ZALIZNYAK-fest / RECOVERY / DNIPRO” is also a way to make the Donetsk region visible through its culture, people, and stories. To amplify the region’s voice in the national dialogue, to discuss the region not only in the context of the war but also through its rich history, Ukrainian cultural heritage, strong communities, and people who continue to create new cultural works even far from home.
The organizers invite residents of the Donetsk region, representatives of displaced communities, educators, museum professionals, cultural workers, young people, civil society organizations, and the media to gather in Dnipro on September 4–6 and experience these three festival days together.
The “ZALIZNYAK-fest / RECOVERY / DNIPRO” project is being implemented as part of the “Heritage. Space for Work” program, with support from the “Partnership for a Strong Ukraine” Program, which is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.
Based on materials from the Pokrovsk City Military Administration