Mykola Khriienko’s Balkan route

Let us recall that the photo event is being held as a part of The Day of Unity of Ukraine celebrations, initiated by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Macedonia and the Lesia Ukrainka Ukrainian Community in the country. At the same time, Khriienko is traveling through the Balkan countries to complete his new journalistic project “Ukrainians in the Balkans.”

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia Yurii Honcharuk called Khriienko “the travelling chronicler of the Ukrainians’ history in Ukraine and beyond,” when opening “The Ukrainian Diaspora: Ukrainians beyond the Urals” exhibit in Skopje.

The travelling journalist told the audience about his original journalistic project “Ukrainians beyond the Urals” and noted that he had sought primarily to collect data about the Ukrainians who had moved beyond the Urals at different times, including as a part of the forced population movements during Stalinist repressions. However, he had not neglected beauty of nature in that part of Earth, too, as well as contemporary life of the multiethnic Siberian people.

According to the organizers, the new project “Ukrainians in the Balkans” should become an information bridge of sorts that would connect the Ukrainians in Ukraine, Russia, and the Balkans. By the way, Khriienko has started studying the local Ukrainian community during his stay in Macedonia

Opening of the exhibition in Osten Gallery has attracted considerable interest from the Macedonian public, with the event attended by representatives of ministries and departments of the Macedonian government, journalists, and activists of many NGOs, representatives of various national minorities, the leadership of the Photo Association of Macedonia, businesspeople and diplomats resident in Skopje, and Macedonian friends of Ukraine in general.

The photo exhibit “The Ukrainian Diaspora: Ukrainians beyond the Urals” will last in Skopje till March 2, and will be presented in Serbia and Croatia later.