At the stands of the "Viy,na" photo exhibition, I found myself thinking that its organizers and the authors of several dozen photographs had succeeded in the main thing: providing visual evidence of the rashists invasion. The photographs presented at the exhibition by students of Ukrainian universities are not only works of art, but, above all, documents of this war. Visitors to the exhibition, which was held at the Scientific and Technical Library of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute from August 26 to September 9, could see on their own eyes how insidious the occupation regime of the invading army was. After all, the sacrifices of the Ukrainian people in the name of the future Victory are enormous.
The story in the photos is interesting and disturbing at the same time.
Yelyzaveta Lazarova, a second year student of the Faculty of Philosophy at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who organized and curated the exhibition, emphasizes that the "journey" into the war demonstrates not only the tragic moments of the first months of the insidious invasion, but also testifies to the irresistible manifestation of the worldview of the freedom-loving Ukrainian people. "In my opinion, the concept of 'war' has an absolute connection with the Ukrainian demon character from Gogol's demonology named Viy," Yelyzaveta shares her thoughts. "Let me remind you that the eyes of this monster from hell are covered with thick eyelashes that he is unable to lift on his own. And when he succeeds with the help of hellish minions, all life disappears around him because of the evil one's murderous gaze. The devil, and in his person the rashist army, demands that everything be given to him. Isn't it too much? This thought did not leave me during the organization of the photo exhibition and still does today."
I take a closer look. I am immersed in recent memories. It was in the first days of the large-scale aggression that residents of Bucha, Irpin, Bilohorodka, Hostomel, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and other cities and towns of our homeland gave their thoughts, dreams, love, and good mood to this demon. A destroyed car repair shop, an explosion near the television tower in the capital's Syrets, an enemy tank in the Kyiv suburbs... But is this all that is captured in the photos? Far from it! Our contemporaries are often unable to save the lives of their friends and relatives. Sad, grieving faces - because of personal tragedies. It is certainly hard to realize this. But this is not the time to close our eyes to horror: it is impossible not to react to military and political events. And it is quite possible to believe that everything will change for the better. After all, among the photographs of the horrors of the full-scale invasion of the enemy army, there are many photos that make you think: we are invincible!
The life-affirming photos show the beauty of human feelings despite the war. One has only to pay attention to the smiles of young and old people looking at the photos to realize that the exhibition is also intended to demonstrate resistance to the arbitrary attack, which we will eventually overcome.
Many of the authors of the photographs, photo installations, and several watercolors wished to remain anonymous. However, the works of the couple Vlada and Kostiantyn Liberov from Odesa, Viktoriia Yakymenko and Hanna Sereda, an illustrator from Kharkiv, and their fellow photographers achieved the main thing - they convinced the visitors that "Viy, na" is a tragic stage in the history of Ukraine, but we need to comprehend, understand, experience, and accept this difficult situation as an experience. What else is there to believe in?
As the organizer of the photo exhibition, Yelyzaveta Lazarova has a dream. She wants as many students of Ukrainian universities as possible to see these photographs, which were taken by the authors of the exhibition, of bombed-out Kharkiv, the aftermath of artillery shelling in Kyiv, Odesa, and other cities, and the sprouts of revival in the liberated territories.
By the way, Yelyzaveta, who graduated from the Polytechnic Lyceum NTUU "KPI", has been immersed in community service since school. The girl's area of expertise is supporting socially significant projects and initiatives. She is honored for her work. She is the winner of the Kyiv Mayor's Award for Outstanding Achievements of Youth in the Development of the Capital of Ukraine - the Hero City of Kyiv. In addition, Yelyzaveta was the winner of the ICAN International Competition (Toronto, Canada), a participant in the Warsaw Women's Scientific Congress (Warsaw, Poland), a winner of the President of Ukraine Scholarship, a scholarship holder of the Leonid Kuchma Presidential Foundation "Ukraine", as well as a finalist in the national selection for the Genius Olympiad World Science Competition (Oswego, USA) and the I-Fest 2020 World Competition (Monastir, Tunisia), and a participant in the Kyiv M18 Forum.