About the Exhibition
On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, inciting the largest war on European soil since World War II. From that day until July 31, 2024, according to the United Nations, 11,520 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 23,640 were wounded, though the numbers are thought to be considerably higher. In an effort to inflate the perception of success, Russian authorities routinely under-report their casualties; in an effort to maintain financial and political support from the West, Ukrainian officials do not disclose exact statistics to external entities. The United States government estimates that 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops were killed or wounded alone in the first 18 months of conflict. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 3.7 million Ukrainians are internally displaced, and 6.5 million people fled the country.
Currently based in Amsterdam, Ukrainian artist Anton Shebetko attempts to make visible what this flurry of statistics cannot: the impact on human life and culture. In Shebetko’s 2022 series, House of Culture, he sourced online images of a selection of the 432 UNESCO-verified cultural sites damaged or destroyed by Russian forces. The white-on-white silkscreens are barely perceptible: these ghost-like structures struggle to remain in Ukrainian collective memory amidst national tragedies.
The red neon in It’s not your problem, oscillates between “not” being dark and illuminated, highlighting indifference toward the realities of war. Like many international events, geographic distance, removal from, and length of time seemingly diminish global concern; the constant news cycle replaces which catastrophe is front-of-mind. Shebetko also considers how Ukrainians are confronting the destruction of their history: “What is the role of culture and art during the war and do they make any sense if they can be easily destroyed?” asks the artist.
Shebetko also memorializes the under-representation of queer stories through the lens of war and the politics of identity. Vlad from the series, We Were Here depicts a veteran of the war in the region of Donbas, which began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Vlad is identified in three ways: shrouded in military camouflage, holding the Ukrainian flag, standing in front of the backdrop of an LGBTQ+ pride flag. We Were Here was a project intended to shed light on the participation of queer soldiers and volunteers fighting for their country, despite the government’s lack of acknowledgement and acceptance of openly queer soldiers and civilians.
