From June 23 to July 6, 2023, the “Women in war, on the paths of those who remain” exhibition was hosted at the Sherbenko Art Centre in Kyiv. It was organized by Dorijka Consortium which gathers together five non-profit apolitical and secular international non-governmental organizations: Première Urgence Internationale, Action contre la Faim, Triangle Génération Humanitaire, Humanity & Inclusion and Solidarités International.
The exhibition showcases the journeys of women living in different regions of Ukraine, including Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Kharkiv. Through the 30 powerful portraits made by French photographer Myriam Renaud and Ukrainian photographer Katya Moskalyuk, visitors got a glimpse into the lives of women whose lives have been radically changed by the war.
During the opening of the exhibition, Nicolas Ben-Oliel, the head of Première Urgence Internationale mission in Ukraine, spoke about the women whose portraits were presented. “They have all had to leave their homes at some point to take refuge elsewhere, sometimes close to their region of origin, sometimes further away… Among our colleagues, we also have women in this exhibition. They are displaced and have decided to get involved in the humanitarian response to support civilians,” Nicolas Ben-Oliel highlighted.
This exhibition in Kyiv is the first part of a larger project that aims to present the realities of women living in war in Ukraine and France thanks to the financial support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.
Overview of the Project
When we talk about the life of a country during the war, we look at the fate of its civilians in cities and everywhere else. The needs they face and the support and solidarity they can show in an emergency situation. On February 24, 2022, and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lives of millions of civilians suddenly changed in Ukraine. More than one year after, approximately 18 million civilians need humanitarian assistance, 5.4 million had to flee their homes to find a safer place and more than 8 million are refugees abroad.
In Ukraine, women represent more than the half of the internally displaced persons and 90% of refugees abroad. Their access to livelihood opportunities, health, mental health and protection support has been severely disrupted increasing their vulnerability.
Many stayed, many had to leave, many decided to get involved to the humanitarian sector to support others in Ukraine or elsewhere. One could say that women are the face of the war, those who need support and those who give support.
The consortium of 5 humanitarian organizations follows the paths of those who need our assistance, in collective shelters, in cities, in rural areas, and of those who have decided to commit themselves to supporting others. That is why the intervention in Ukraine is named Dorijka, which stands for paths in Ukrainian.
The photographers
Katya Moskalyuk is a journalist and documentary photographer living in Lviv. She graduated from the School of Journalism of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Until 2022, she mostly created photo stories about people with disabilities, and now she is filming the consequences of the war in Ukraine and documenting the stories of people who survived. Her photographs were published in Bloomberg Businessweek, Die Zeit, Bird in Flight, Forbes Ukraine and others, and were also presented at international exhibitions in Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Armenia and others.
Myriam Renaud is a French-Swiss photographer. After studying international law, she turned to humanitarian work and worked for nearly 10 years in conflict or post-conflict situations (Caucasus, Middle East, West and Central Africa). In 2018-2019, Myriam Renaud trained in photojournalism at EMI-CFD in Paris (France). In 2020, she joined Hans Lucas and collaborated with various French media, including La Croix and Libération. Myriam Renaud conducted her first trip in Ukraine in early April 2022, the first in a series of trips in the country, where she is undertaking a long-term documentary work.
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.