Due to the martial law in Ukraine, most men are unable to travel abroad in search of safety, while women have the opportunity to do so. Every day, Ukrainian women face a difficult choice of where to build their future. From April 2 to 29, the Town Hall of the 9th arrondissement of Lyon, France, is hosting an exhibition titled “Women in war, on the paths of those who remain”. The exhibition presents the stories of those who decided to stay in Ukraine despite the opportunity to live in a safer place.
This project marks the third stage of a large project aimed at shedding light on the realities of women’s lives in Ukraine during the war. Previously, the exhibition was held in Kyiv and Paris. The photo project is organized by Dorijka, a consortium of five French humanitarian organizations that provide direct assistance in Ukraine and have a deep understanding of the difficulties faced by internally displaced people.
As part of the project, photographers from Ukraine and France collected 30 portraits of women from different regions, including Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Kharkiv. All of these women have been living in war, some since 2014 and others since February 24, 2022. Each of their stories represents a small part of the overall reality experienced by millions of civilians.
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
The exhibition featured not only portraits of women who received assistance from the Dorijka consortium, but also portraits of humanitarian workers from the consortium’s partner organizations. At the opening of the exhibition, Thomas Boudant, Program Officer of the consortium’s leader organization, Première Urgence Internationale’s (PUI) in Ukraine, noted that the war in Ukraine erases the differences between the humanitarian workers and those whom they provide assistance to.
“One of the most striking aspects of this exhibition is that the portraits of the women on display never specify whether they are aid workers or people helped by the Dorijka consortium: this blurs the distinction between the people we help and the people working in the teams of Dorijka partners,” said Thomas Boudant. – “This reflects the fact that in Ukraine, as in many of the conflicts in which our organizations are involved, our national colleagues are both aid workers and people personally affected by war on a daily basis: most are displaced, sometimes several times… many have children, so mothers have legitimate concerns about the conflict.”
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
In the photo (from left to right): Thomas Boudant – PUI’s Program Officer for Ukraine, Magali Ratajczak – TGH’s Desk Manager for Ukraine & CAR, Christian Lombard – TGH’s General Director, Anne Braibant – Mayor of Lyon 9th arrondissement, Lisa Mambre – 7th deputy mayor in charge of culture, tourism and digital technology, Sylvie Frenillot – 4th deputy mayor in charge of health, solidarity and social inclusion.
The opening of the exhibition in Lyon was organized by the consortium’s partner, Triangle Génération Humanitaire (TGH), integrated into the organization’s 30-year anniversary events schedule. At the opening the organization was represented by its General Director Christian Lombard and the organization’s Desk Manager for Ukraine & Central and Eastern Europe Magali Ratajczak.
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
This exhibition was organized with the support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and is open in Lyon at 6 Place du Marché until April 29, 2024. For those who cannot make it, the exhibition content is available online.
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
©Triangle Génération Humanitaire
This audio-visual product is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Dorijka consortium and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.