MOIFA | June 2024

Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine

Serhii Polubotko, b. 1962, Glory to the Sunflower (Slava Soniakhu), 2023, Brass ammunition casings, steel, wooden stand. Photo courtesy of artist.

A little longer, a little longer — and cherry blossoms will bloom,
alighting petals, the dreams of unearthed roots.
War paints watercolors with blood.
Its palette — the ashes of fires.
Its landscape — the ruins of buildings.
Empty streets as faded pastels.
Perhaps somewhere amidst cries from the rubble,
a tulip will suddenly sprout.
- Lina Kostenko, b. 1930

Opening on June 23 in the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, the Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine exhibition will feature large-scale color photographs and objects from war-torn Ukraine. Appropriating remnants of war—bullet and shell casings, helmets, ammunition boxes—the exhibition will explore how Ukrainians are coping with the daily trauma of death, loss, and destruction that comes from their lived experience. Items of war are reclaimed and reimagined as sites of human creativity by children, spouses, parents, injured soldiers, and artists in a way that reflects Ukrainian cultural perspectives and folk art practices. Programming throughout the run of the exhibition will include musical performances, film series, lectures and artist demonstrations. The exhibition runs through April 20, 2025.

We are grateful to the International Folk Art Foundation, the Friends of Folk Art, and Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn for their generous support of this exhibition.

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