Since October 2022, the editors Ivanna Kozachenko, Andrii
Ushytskyi, Vsevolod Kazarin and Sebastian Wells as well as the
art direction around Anne-Lene Proff and Peter Bünnagel
from Kollektiv Scrollan and the Berlin-based publishing house
SHIFT BOOKS have been working on a second issue of the
magazine. In addition to photography, film, contemporary art,
literature and, most importantly, the everyday life of young
people in Ukraine, the magazine attempts to convey the complex
reality of life under the permanent gaze of Russian aggression
through the works of talented and already well-known
Ukrainian artists.
On 132 pages, the new issue pays special attention to the stories
of people from the now-occupied territories of Luhansk,
Donetsk and Crimea, who have already been confronted with the
war since 2014. The cover of the new issue was designed
exclusively for Söomiya by renowned artist Alevtina Kakhidze.
It shows a woman surrounded by missiles and drones, raising
her hand. "Our hands became more skilful during the war," says
Kakhidze, who has already created hundreds of drawings
during the war and drew a tardigrade on the back cover of the
magazine - the only creature to survive the Chernobyl nuclear
accident.