Photo exhibition, film screening and art book: Culture vs War project presented in Kharkiv
The local Media Hub in Kharkiv has hosted the opening of photo exhibitions by cinematographer and soldier Serhii Mykhalchuk and military documentary photographers Vlada and Kostiantyn Liberov. These exhibitions are part of the Culture vs War project.
Serhii Mykhalchuk is a world-renowned director of photography and photographer. He has made about 40 films (Mamai, Dovbush, V. Sylvestrov, The Guide and The Wild Field), four of which were nominated for an Academy Award. After the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he voluntarily joined the Armed Forces.
Kostiantyn Liberov and Vlada Liberova are a married couple of photographers from Odesa. After 24 February, they switched from wedding photo shoots and masterclasses to working in the hottest spots of the contact line. Their photographs have travelled all over the world and are shared by major international media such as the BBC, Welt, Vogue, and the New York Times.
The opening of the photo exhibitions was preceded by a screening of documentaries from the Culture vs War project, featuring Mykhalchuk and the Liberovs, as well as poet and volunteer Serhii Zhadan.
In addition, Alina Krasnianska, the executive producer of the project, presented an art book of the same name. It contains photos and quotes from the artists participating in the project: Serhii Mykhalchuk and the couple Vlada and Kostiantyn Liberov, as well as the band Antytila, actor and director Akhtem Seitablaiev, kobzar and bandura player Taras Kompanichenko, writer Serhii Zhadan, film director Mykhailo Illienko, actor Dmytro Linartovych, director of photography Yaroslav Pilunskyi, and actors Oleksii Trytenko and Yevhen Nyshchuk.
Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov, who came to the opening of the exhibition directly from the contact line, said that like everyone else, they hoped to the last that the invasion would not last long, so they have tried to show the bright side of the war in their photographs, attempting to give hope to Ukrainians.
"After a while, we realised that this war was too romanticised and that it was not good for the front line and Ukrainian society. Now, on the contrary, we are highlighting all the horrors of war. We want to capture this pain, sweat and blood, and make sure it never happens again," said Kostiantyn.
"We record, we testify and we try to see and capture the moments that happen to us in order not to lose our self-respect and dignity. Sometimes the world is terribly disappointing when you try to talk about pain or losses, and the world perceives them through the prism of stereotypes, clichés and political situations. We are doomed to explain this!" said Serhii Zhadan, who also attended the event.
The photo exhibition of the Culture vs War project in Kharkiv will run until 8 October. You can visit it every day, except Sunday, from 15:00 to 18:00 at 5 Svobody Square.
Previously, the exhibition was shown in Odesa, and it will travel to Lviv from Kharkiv.
The comprehensive project Culture vs War was initiated in May 2022 by the Watch Ukrainian! association to strengthen support for Ukraine around the world. The main component of the project is a series of six documentaries in which Ukrainian musicians, filmmakers, writers, photographers and other cultural figures tell about the war through their own stories and memories.
The project is being created by the association Promoting Cinema in Ukraine – Watch Ukrainian! with the support of the European Union in Ukraine, the MHP-Hromada Foundation, and the company Babylon.
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