'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
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
German men with the strongest fingers compete in Bavaria's 'Fingerhakeln' wrestling championship
Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling.
Flash floods in northern Afghanistan sweep away livelihoods, leaving hundreds dead and missing
The UN food agency estimated that unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left more than 300 people dead and thousands of houses destroyed, most of them in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday.
Trucker's body found in trailer in Newfoundland after failed police search in Ontario
Ontario Provincial Police are facing tough questions about their search for a missing Newfoundland trucker whose rig was found two weeks ago in Ontario, then sent back to Newfoundland, where his body was found Monday in the trailer.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.