en
Novosti Novosti Opening of the exhibition “Under Occupation”

Opening of the exhibition “Under Occupation”

05. May 2025 15:44

We kindly invite you to the opening of the exhibition Under Occupation. Ukrainian art responding to trauma and cultural heritage destruction that will take place on May 14, 2025 at 11.00h in the Vukovar Municipal Museum.

The exhibition Under Occupation is a powerful tribute to those who survived, escaped, or remain under occupation, as well as to those who lost their lives due to Russian war aggression against Ukraine. Featuring works by five artists spanning from 2014 to 2025, the exhibition captures the full scope of the war in Ukraine through documentary comics, photos, collages, graphic stories, animated videos, and installations.

The exhibition showcases seven profound pieces shaped by war and displacement:

  • Absence Form (2025, Viktoriia Saryozhavna and Slava Bo)
  • My Home (2024, Mashika Vyshedski)
  • These 8 Years (2023, Mashika Vyshedski)
  • My Spring Shot Dead – Occupation Diary (2022, Yana Malyha)
  • Kherson Stories of Occupation (2022, Yana Malyha and Mashika Vyshedski)
  • Lysychansk. Occupied Future (2018, Ksenia Yanko)
  • Slava Bo, Displaced (2014, Slava Bo)

These works tell deeply personal stories of survival—of fleeing under shelling, crossing enemy checkpoints, and rebuilding lives in foreign lands. The exhibition’s debut in Vukovar, Croatia, is deeply symbolic. Vukovar serves as a poignant backdrop for Ukrainian artists exploring post-war recovery—a process that is taking decades in the Balkans and will take even longer in Ukraine according to the authors of the exhibition.

After the opening of the exhibition, we invite you to a conversation with time witnesses – both from Ukraine and from Vukovar, who will share their personal stories of dealing with the trauma of war in a “living library” format. Translation into Croatian will be provided during the opening and conversation.

The exhibition Under Occupation is organized by the non-governmental organization STAN (Ukraine) in partnership with Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past (Croatia) and Vukovar Municipal Museum (Croatia) under the project “Responding to Trauma and Cultural Heritage Destruction”, within the framework of the Creative Europe program, funded by the European Union.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.