Ukrainian art 'transported like refugees' on show in Coventry

Alina Kostrichenko says her work depicts the "horrific scale" of violence against women

An exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian art, featuring work created during the invasion of the country, is to go on show.

The collection from artists who both remained in the country or fled as refugees, has been put together by Alexandra Churakova, previously the manager of the Forsa art gallery in Kyiv.

She left the country at the onset of war and now lives with a family in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Russia's attack on Ukraine, which started on 24 February, was a deliberate attempt to destroy the country's people and culture, she said.

"But we still have it inside ourselves, we are not going to forget it," she added.

One of Natalia Yurchenko's pieces depicts Ukranians fleeing from their home carrying beloved pets

Co-curator Anna Nesterenko described how she had gone to the Polish border in order to pick up some of the artworks that had travelled "the same way that any refugee would."

They had been "created in bomb shelters under constant shelling, on the routes out of the country and in safety but dread and agony for loved ones," she said.

"Days on the road via ruined and mined roads, under constant threat of bombardment, hour-long queues at the border, through a foreign country, and eventually, by plane."

She hoped the exhibition would help remind people of the ongoing war.

"The situation is not getting any better and people still need help now."

Maria Borisova's work Ukrainian Madonna was based on a woman who defended her child during a Russian rocket explosion, she said

Artist Maria Borisova, who was forced to leave her home in Kharkiv along with her four children, said at the beginning of the war "it was difficult to even hold a pencil in your hands, it seemed that all the creative force had left".

But, she said, she had been given the impetus to draw after hearing a story of a young mother who had defended her child during a Russian rocket explosion.

"Her image of being wounded, upset but unbreakable and strong, is like a symbol of our country."

Zlata Kontseva's works symbolise the freedom and prosperity she hopes will be the future of Ukraine

Ms Churakova said she hoped the exhibition would "help people see my country closer, not just on the TV."

All of the works are for sale with the proceeds being split between the artists and the Ukrainian emergency arts fund.

The Ukraine Our Home exhibition is on show at the LTB, Litten Tree Building Showrooms, 1 Warwick Road , Coventry from 24 June to 24 July.

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