Ludmila Christeseva - christeseva.com

Ludmila Christeseva is a Belarus-born, Sweden-based artist and curator whose practice brings together art, activism, and community. With formal training from Vitebsk State Technological University in painting, sculpture, and installation, her work has evolved from traditional forms into participatory and socially engaged practices.

Since 2020, Christeseva has used fashion, textile, and performance-based works to respond to political realities in Belarus and beyond. Following the war in Ukraine, her practice expanded significantly, extending its curatorial scope from Sweden into an international context.

Through her work, she has brought together hundreds of women – including Ukrainian refugees and Belarusian artists in exile – creating spaces of care through shared practices such as weaving, cooking, baking, and sewing. Within these spaces, participants gain recognition, visibility, and new opportunities for participation and expression, while building networks of support, solidarity, and resilience.

At the core of this practice is Roses of Ties, a collective artwork that transforms a traditional symbol of authority into a gesture worn close to the heart. Through this act, power shifts from hierarchy to solidarity – from individual control to collective presence.

The growing body of work reflects both the legacy of war and the enduring legacy of womanhood. It preserves stories shaped by displacement, resistance, and survival, while affirming the strength of connection, care, and shared making. What began as textile workshops – including the production of camouflage nets to save lives in Ukraine – has evolved into an international movement for peace: Crafts that Unite, Heal, and Last.

In 2023, Christeseva founded the NGO Artten Foundation, continuing her mission to connect art with social impact through workshops, residencies, and public programs at her studio in Stockholm and internationally.

Her practice reminds us that a world without craft is a world without women – without mothers, sisters, and the invisible labour that sustains life. It is not only about memory, but about reimagining the future: a future where power is carried together, and where solidarity becomes a form of resilience.

Christeseva was awarded “Impact of the Year 2023” by IHM Business School. She has been nominated for the Nelson Mandela Prize in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by the City of Stockholm. She has also been nominated for the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize in 2025 and 2026, an international award recognizing leadership in addressing global challenges. In 2026, she was selected as one of four women in focus for the initiative Women in Charge.