Year: 2023
Venue: Akerhof, Groningen (Netherlands)

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This exhibition represents the wealth of Ukrainian photography for five decades. It begins in the 70s, at a time when Ukrainian visual art began to express its own language publicly, and ends with the war that is now sweeping the country.

“Ukraine: The Path to Freedom” visualizes key events in the history of Ukraine and examines the development of photography during this period. The exhibition aims to show how closely connected socio-political and artistic life in the country are.

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The exposition consists of four parts corresponding to four recent historical periods and offers works by several generations of Ukrainian authors. It shows how photography operates on many social levels: as a method of capturing change, as a form of protest, personal history, reflection on events and political statement.

Art is a mirror of society, and photography in particular can be a means of deeper cultural understanding and interaction. It tells about how Ukraine follows a historical path of struggle for freedom, beyond its borders, the right to exist, culture and the future. As recent events prove, the price of this struggle is high.

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