A presentation and talk dedicated to the newly published book With Ribbons and Flags, which is based on the last project by Ukrainian artist Davyd Chychkan (1986–2025), created in 2022–2024, before he volunteered to join a combat unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was killed in action by the Russian occupiers. 

Davyd Chychkan (1986–2025) was the most politically articulate contemporary Ukrainian artist, famous for turning his artistic practice into a tool for political education and the transformation of society. Being an anarchist, he never separated his art from activism, and he played an active part in the development of Ukrainian civil society, while also forging his own artistic language and aesthetic iconography. Davyd was born, lived, and worked in Kyiv. Throughout his practice, he consistently created critical art, reacting to social and political injustice while also acting as a visionary who imagined political futures and researched the history of twentieth-century anarchist and social movements. He worked across graphic arts, painting, text, and street art and was at the forefront of the grassroots anti-fascist movement in the 2000s. In 2024 Davyd voluntarily joined the ranks of a combat unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After a year of fighting on the front lines, he was killed in the armed struggle against Russian fascism on August 10, 2025, in the ancient Cossack lands of Zaporizhzhia.

In his last cycle of works, titled With Ribbons and Flags, Davyd, a confirmed anarcho-syndicalist and antifascist, set out to depict participants of the anti-authoritarian leftist movement who are fighting in this war or who have already died defending Ukraine.

As part of the book launch, there will be a discussion between Stefan Klein and Mira, moderated by Jakub Gawkowski, co-curator of the 2026 Biennale Matter of Art.

Stefan Klein lives and works as an artist in Berlin. Kasper König once said that his work is like the dancing procession of Echternach in Luxembourg: two steps forward, one step back. He is still not sure if this was a compliment or an insult, but he kind of likes it.

Mira (Myroslava Svyataya) is an anarcho-feminist activist from Ukraine. Since 2022, she has been involved with Solidarity Collectives, where she organizes fundraisers and information tours abroad to support anti-authoritarian resistance in Ukraine.

Through Solidarity Collectives, Mira and her fellow organizers have worked to preserve Davyd’s art and highlight its cultural significance. She has helped organize exhibitions of his work in different countries, aiming to honor his legacy and ensure that his art, ideas, and contributions to the movement remain visible and remembered.

With Ribbons and Flags 

Editors: Hanna Tsyba, Stefan Klein, Andrii Bozhok
Text: Yustyna Kravchuk, Denys Pilash
Design: Stefan Klein
Editing: Kateryna Mishchenko, Tom Giuretis
Translation: Yustyna Kravchuk
Publishers: Verlak / i lost my library