The stories of Ukrainians who experience the destructive force of the war were displayed at a photo exhibition entitled “Live Project” at the EU Infomation Center in Chisinau. The works of 20 Ukrainian artists, which show how the war affected the life of people, dividing it between “before” and “after”, are a collective call of the Ukrainians addressed to the whole world to offer support in their struggle for life and peace, IPN reports.
EU Ambassador to Moldova Janis Mazeiks said the photos presented at the exhibition show the reality in Ukraine, which is confronted with an unjust war waged by Russia. “What you see here are ordinary people, persons in whose life until now they were specialists in different fields, professionals, doctors, teachers, farmers and you see them in these pictures naked. What is drawn here is indeed a painting. You will see from their stories that they are people who defend their homeland. We, on behalf of the European Union, will do our best to support them in their fight in this war and to ensure they score a victory as swiftly as possible,” said the official.
Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan said the symbolism of these photos is extraordinary. “We see naked people who drew some protection systems, as they imagine them, on their body. This is actually the state of spirit of the Ukrainians and of Ukraine as a state that tries to protect itself from an aggression that goes beyond the human body’s possibility to face this scourge. The protection systems are only symbols for now. More should be done, but no matter how much we do, it will never be too much,” stated the minister.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Moldova Marko Shevchenko said the author of the exhibition wanted to transform the tragedies of hundreds of thousands of war-stricken Ukrainians from cold figures into lives of real people who were lucky to live in a peaceful country before the war. But one night, owing to the wish of a leader who lost contact with the reality, they became refugees and are looking for a safer place in Europe. The diplomat encouraged the people to visit the exhibition and to think about the fact that no one has the right to use military instruments to fulfill criminal wishes.
Exhibition author Olena Afanasyeva, who is from Kherson, said that when the war started on February 24 last year, she lost her home. “I immediately thought not only about Kherson. I also thought about Nikolayev, Odessa and Moldova as we are all so close to each other, together. The first time this exhibition was mounted in July in Germany as I and other painters from Ukraine aimed to talk to Europe, to discuss namely with the public from Europe because Ukraine evidently needed help and we also need help to protect not only ourselves, but also the whole Europe,” she stated.
The “Live Project” became possible thanks to the financial support provided by the EU within the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowship Program. The exhibition can be visited until February 24.
