Kateryna Botanova

Kateryna Botanova was selected for the 2023 Shortlist with Defined by silence.

Kateryna Botanova is a Basel-based cultural critic, curator, and writer from Kyiv, Ukraine. She writes on decoloniality, solidarity, and care with a special focus on artistic practices and societal dynamics in the Global South, Eastern Europe, and Ukraine, in particular. She is a co-curator of multidisciplinary biennial Culturescapes (Basel, Switzerland) and an editor of its anthologies. Between 2010 and 2015 she was a director of the Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv, as well as a founder and editor-in-chief of the online magazine Korydor. She is a member of PEN-Ukraine.

Her essays were included in Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art. Political and Social Perspectives, 1991–2021. Ibidem, 2021; Future We Are Longing For. Tempora, 2020; Bridges Not Walls: What Unites Ukrainians. VSL, 2020.

Lena Bjurström

Lena Bjurström was selected for the 2023 Shortlist with Sámi: the quest for ancestral skulls.

Lena Bjurström is a freelance reporter and a long-form writer, specialized in human rights issues. Her stories have been published by Les Jours, Le Monde Diplomatique, La Chronique d’Amnesty, France Culture, Justice Info and other French medias. Over the past decade, she developed a particular interest in international criminal justice, indigenous rights and climate issues. She co-founded the association Collectif Focus, where freelance reporters and documentary makers share ideas and projects.