'I couldn’t draw anything else': Exhibit by Ukrainian artists illustrating realities of war coming to Nuit Blanche
A Winnipeg pop-up exhibition of 50 Ukrainian contemporary illustrators is animating the gruesome realities of the Russian invasion, while raising funds to help those fleeing to Canada.
Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre is hosting the “War in Living Colour” exhibit during Nuit Blanche Winnipeg this weekend.
The two-day, pop-up event will feature work by Pictoric, a Kyiv-based illustrators' club founded in 2014.
Member and artist Veronika Kotyk has spent her professional life illustrating children's books. But when Russia invaded in February of 2022, Kotyk couldn’t draw anything but the horrors she and her community experienced every day.
“I didn’t want to draw war but I couldn’t draw anything else when it’s happening, when people are dying daily,” Kotyk told CTV News Winnipeg in an interview. “After the first month of war, we have a bunch of artworks and we decided we need to show it.”
Kyiv-based artist Veronika Kotyk went from animating children's books to illustrating the daily realities of war. Her work is part of the "War in Living Colour" pop-up exhibit coming to Nuit Blanche Winnipeg this weekend. (Source: Scott Andersson/CTV News Winnipeg)
From that work, “War in Living Colour” was created, an animated exhibit exploring themes of resistance, evacuation, childhood during armed conflict, and the realities of daily life during war.
The exhibit travelled through other parts of Canada this summer. Stops in Ottawa and Vancouver raised over $10,000 for causes like tactical first-aid supplies and rehab programs for children affected by war.
Tour organizer Sofya Kominko said the exhibit gives Canadians a more intimate understanding of war.
“Some of these artists were actually in Ukraine in bomb shelters creating these works. Some of them had friends in Ukraine going through some of the horrific things that we could only imagine or we read about in the news,” she said.
The exhibit will be open at the Oseredok galleries at 184 Alexander Avenue East Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The event is pay-what-you-will, and all money raised will fund programming to help the growing number of refugees and displaced people from Ukraine arriving in Winnipeg.
Kotyk said she has been pleasantly surprised at how Canadians have embraced the exhibit so far. Although the work deals with difficult subject matter, she said Winnipeggers should do the same.
“People shouldn't be afraid of that sensitive content. People need to see this. It’s important,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.