Echo of war

The exhibition “War echoes in us…” presents a wide range of genres and themes (30 artists presented 70 paintings permeated with pain and memory).

Director of the art complex Kateryna KALINICHENKO told The Day that the exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and graphic art is designed for different audience. “There are art works of artists who are no longer with us, but in the past they saw the war, young artists also responded and presented their vision of the topic at the exhibition. For example, Anastasia Shchetynina depicted windows of an old house, through which one can see the portraits of still young grandparents. A historical book can be written on the material of the graphic works by Volodymyr Shendel because the artist carefully studied warfare and very clearly and accurately conveyed every detail from the weapons, equipment, to the appearance of the soldiers…

“For example, Volodymyr and Valentyna Telychky, Heorhii Otreshko, and Kostiantyn Cherniavsky presented a series of portraits of children, women-pilots, and war veterans. Paintings by Polina Shakalo, Mykhailo Dzharta, and Hennadii Zhukov are full of deep symbolic meaning.”

The artists Volodymyr Ternovykh, whose works are featured at the exhibition, told The Day: “With the paintings Miner’s Love and 1941. Boarder I wanted to convey my attitude towards unnecessary, terrible, artificially created event that took the lives of innocent people.”

The parallel exhibition presented in Donetsk is called “The Ways of the War.” It features 70 photographs of the most famous war photographers: Yevhen Khaldei, Ivan Shahin, and Naum Hranovsky. It is hard to determine what photos were made by which author at this point because the images are not signed. The organizers of the exhibition stress that Donetsk residents have a unique opportunity to see the photos that are included in the global photography fund and have been preserved until our time.

“We completed the exhibition with poetry by Kostiantyn Symonov and Yulia Drunina, which made the photographs even more emotional. This allows to feel the terrible past that should not be forgotten,” said Kateryna KALI­NI­CHEN­KO.

The exhibitions will be open until September 13.