GRANTEE
Independent Writer
Old Khata Project is a visual and storytelling documentary project about traditional rural architecture in Ukraine and the people who created it, which recently expanded to include accounts of rural communities affected by war. It is being created by Anna Ilchenko (photographer) and Svitlana Oslavska (writer).
During 2021, we were visiting villages all over Ukraine, documenting rural houses and conducting interviews with residents. By the end of 2021, we had a draft version of the book. Then the Russian invasion changed our plans and we switched our focus to documenting villages affected by the war.
Nevertheless, we are keeping the focus on delicate cultural things, not turning the project into the classic media story about the war. We want to give hope and light, not only to perpetuate horror stories.
For now, the project exists on Instagram and Facebook pages, but the main aim was and still is to publish a photobook with selected visuals and fragments of the interviews. Now it will also contain relevant images and stories of war.