The exhibition ‘The war. A female gaze’ is presented from February 24 at the Paris City Hall by the association Stand With Ukraine as a tribute to the role of Ukrainian women in the war launched against their country. The event will partner with the festival Odesa Photo Days, created in 2015 to promote contemporary Ukrainian photography internationally and the Franco-Ukrainian association Amuse A Muse, which works to strengthen cultural ties between France and Ukraine. The project is also supported by the Paris City Hall and the Ukrainian Embassy in France.
A year ago, on February 24, 2022, people in Ukraine were woken by the sound of bombs and anxious calls from friends and relatives. Russia had just started a full-scale war against Ukraine, attacking its values and freedom. This war is not yet over.
Usually we learn about war from adults, who experience or witness events. Unfortunately, Ukrainian adolescents also have to hide from bombs, leave their homes, live and accept an uncertain future. They are living all of this alongside the questionings generally associated with their age, — indecision and lack of self-confidence, life choices, lack of understanding with adults. Their will and commitment will be crucial for the reconstruction and renaissance of Ukraine after victory.
In fall 2022, the Ukrainian festival ‘Odesa Photo Days’ launched an on-line mentoring programme for young Ukrainian photographers, dedicated to photographic story telling. With mentors, participants (boys and girls between the ages of 17 and 21), shared their experience of the war through photographic projects.
The mentoring programme resulted in 40 photo series about the impact of the vast offensive launched by Russia against Ukraine on the lives of young people and the entire country. There are stories about destroyed cities and tireless volunteers, the cities of Kharkiv and Marioupol, personal traumas and equally tender encounters during wartime, cultural heritage and reconquest, painful memories of what was lost and attempts to find a new home, evacuations and confidence in victory.
This exhibition features the gaze of young Ukrainian women on their lives during war. They share their experiences, feelings and emotions, whether they have remained in Ukraine or are refugees abroad, and invite us to relate to them.
Artists:
Kateryna Boklan
Lucy Petrova
Anastasia Chulkova
Karina Ponochevna
Diana Danyliuk
Nelly Minasova
Marharyta Rubanenko
Lisanna Ryzhevska
Yulia Taradiuk
Anastasiia Nikonova
Curators:
Kateryna Radchenko
Natalya Guzenko Boudier
French translation: Agathe Bonin
The Mentoring Programme for young Ukrainian photographers was made possible thanks to the support of the American people, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
