WAR DIARIES
PAINTINGS BY DANYLO MOVCHAN and YARYNA MOVCHAN

Exhibition under the auspices of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Belgium

Russia’s ongoing unprovoked aggression against Ukraine has become a sad inspiration for many artists. The heroic Ukrainian struggle is mainly about culture. It is in the culture that Ukraine’s strength is rooted. It is also the culture that becomes a weapon of war. It draws on artists’ sensitivity and ability to give an individual experience a universal dimension.

This is what makes art so powerful.

Art can speak in a clear voice. We should believe in its potential to change the world for the better.
At the same time, creativity stemming from wartime experience is a crucial testimony. It is an expression of sensitivity and strength because creating always opposes powerlessness.

And Ukraine fights thanks to the power of its culture and identity.

Hence the presented exhibition of Ukrainian artists Danylo Movchan and Yaryna Movchan. Their works are a chronicle of Ukrainian days and nights, experiences that spilled over the entire nation and will constitute a narrative about Europe`s 21st century in the future.
It’s a literal chronicle. The works bear specific dates and refer to events the astonished world learned about daily as of 24 February 2022. They effectively transfer an individual experience to a more public space, transforming it into a timeless, synthetic and explicit testimony of the suffering of Ukrainian people, but also of their incredible courage and resilience.

In the works of the artists appear all the atrocities of war, the victims of which are civilians. The fear of violence, the bitterness of fleeing, the despair of death, and the drama of exhumation are tragically present. In June 2023, a catastrophic flood adds to the long list of war crimes committed by Russians.
Watercolours and paintings constitute a silent and sad commentary on crimes and rapes; it expresses opposition to the war lies used by Russian propaganda and the hypocrisy of the Russian aggressors.

At the same time, these themes somehow contaminate the form chosen by the artists. Pastel colours and the watercolour technique are a very innocent medium in the face of the brutality of the subjects. As if they wanted to talk about a sheer force that awoke as the power of David set against Goliath.
To prove that beauty, sensitivity, faith and hope, and nobility of attitudes will bring salvation from evil.

The exhibition was organized by the Gallery of Katarzyna Napiorkowska in Brussels as part of a series of events supporting Ukraine and above all, as an expression of solidarity towards the heroism of all Ukrainians. Slava Ukraïni! Слава Україні!

Justyna Napiorkowska, PhD
art historian and political scientist
Gallery of Katarzyna Napiorkowska

Contact us to receive a full presentation of available works at galerie@napiorkowska.pl / (32) 495 71 89 88

Contact

Contact us to receive a full presentation of available works at galerie@napiorkowska.pl / (32) 495 71 89 88

Contact

During the opening, we will host t-overtone.art War Diary project. Here is some information about the concept.

War Diary People in Western Europe repress the tragedy of the war in Ukraine from their memory. They do so gradually, slowly, and casually. It’s something human and inevitable. Being flooded with news about daily massacres, our consciousness or the subconscious starts fighting for inner peace; after all, we cannot live in constant tension. In the meanwhile, the war in Ukraine goes on. And people are still dying there. This is why, although we understand the blessings of oblivion, we will remind you of it for as long as it is needed. We wanted the communication to be tailored to our needs, to the needs of a human being. So we came up with the idea of T-shirts with graphics or paintings which refer to the war in Ukraine. It seemed simple and dignified to place a serious message on the human chest, close to the heart.  For 4 months it will be possible to buy a T-shirt with a reproduction of Danylo Movchan’s work  from the t-overtone.art This particular t-shirt will only be available until end of September 2023.

The income from the T-shirts sales will be donated to support Ukraine.