The diary of Kateryna Savenko about the siege of Mariupol was heard at the Venice Film Festival as part of the Ukrainian installation “Spomyny”
09.09.2026
The Ukrainian immersive installation “Spomyny” by Sofiia Bulhakova was presented at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. The project was included in the Best of Experiences section of the Venice Immersive programme. More than 2,000 people visited the installation over the course of more than 10 days.
Kateryna Savenko’s voice became part of the “Spomyny” project. For 34 days of the siege of Mariupol, the woman kept a diary in which she recorded what was happening to her, her family and the city. Kateryna was killed on April 4, 2022. Her diary is kept at the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
Nataliia Yemchenko, Chair of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, noted that the Museum is a partner of the “Spomyny” immersive project, and that its international presentation is another opportunity to tell the world the truth about the war in Ukraine and preserve the memory of the people who became victims of russian aggression.
“An immersive section was introduced at the Venice Film Festival 10 years ago. For the first time, a Ukrainian project is taking part in it – the work of young Ukrainian director Sofiia Bulhakova. It is about memory and war. I really want Kateryna Savenko’s story to become one of the best-known stories of civilians who were killed during this war. It is part of the truth that we must preserve,” Nataliia Yemchenko said.
The “Spomyny” installation, created by Ukrainian artist Sofiia Bulhakova, is based on personal and collective testimonies about russia’s war against Ukraine. The artist turned them into sound artefacts and combined them with an installation made of insulation pipes.
Sound, the power of memory, and the combination of art and technology create a unique space for interaction. Visitors can hear individual voices and stories and gradually piece together their own picture of what Ukrainians experienced during the war.
“For me, this is about much more than simply taking part in a festival. When a full-scale war is raging, every opportunity to tell the world a Ukrainian story feels like a personal responsibility. Seeing audiences in Venice stop, listen, and then come over to share their own impressions or memories is what makes continuing this work worthwhile. Ukrainian art needs to be heard right now, when it is important that we are not forgotten and that our voices continue to be heard on the world’s biggest stages,” says the project’s creator, Sofiia Bulhakova.
The American media outlet No Proscenium, which specialises in immersive art, highlighted the uniqueness of the Ukrainian installation. The authors of the article specifically mentioned “Spomyny” among the most interesting works in this year’s Venice Immersive programme. They noted that visitors gradually discover the sound channels and listen to sounds travelling through the system of pipes. In this way, each person creates their own non-linear story, based on the experiences of Sofiia Bulhakova and the people whose testimonies she collected.
Since 2014, the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has preserved the testimonies of Ukrainians who have suffered as a result of russia’s war against Ukraine. It has been recognised as the world’s largest collection of stories by civilians about war. In total, more than 145,000 stories have been collected, including more than 12,500 testimonies from Mariupol residents.
These recorded memories are important both for preserving historical memory and as an evidentiary basis for future trials, with a view to holding russia legally accountable under international law for war crimes against Ukraine’s civilian population.
