Stronger than Arms, private view 6pm - 9pm Wednesday 17th of August To RSVP please email: [email protected]
‘STRONGER THAN ARMS,’ our upcoming exhibition at BSMT is very close to the hearts of the gallery staff. The atrocities of the war in Ukraine have created a chasm, separating people from families, families from their homes and has directly affected the lives of both of our gallery assistants who are of Russian and Ukrainian descent and whose families have suffered loss and a complete change in living circumstances since the war began. This exhibition, under the guidance of senior gallery staff, has been entirely curated by both Olga Fedorova and Polina Usenko and will showcase Ukrainian Urban and Contemporary art. 'STRONGER THAN ARMS', originally a title of an old Ukrainian film which dealt with war in Eastern Ukraine, will be an opportunity for the gallery to celebrate the beauty and strength of Ukrainian culture in an uplifting way and to introduce a rhetoric that stands apart from desperation and loss. All communication has been carefully transcribed into Ukrainian and the artists who are featured are still currently living and practicing in the Ukraine. When faced with the challenge of getting the artwork out of the country given the permits required and the time constraints that arose around unpredictable transport methods it became clear that the exhibition may not be able to go ahead as planned. Facing this standstill, Polina set out a personal goal to raise the funds needed to transport the work herself. Having raised £1000 in only three days she has now undertaken the 50 hour drive to and from the Ukraine with a friend. Armed with a camera and a bag of school books she will donate to refugee children, Polina will be making the very personal journey back to Lviv where she will be collecting the work of 6 different artists. The exhibition will feature the work of: Alla Alekseieva Anastasia Belous Michael Corobcov Mishel and Nicol Feldman Oleksander Grebenyuk (Graph0man) Vitaly Greh (Dilkone) Serhii Greh (Ferosone) Alex Maksiov Denys Metelin Arkhip Nejinskiy David Yablonsky Zdesroy ‘STRONGER THAN ARMS’ voices the sensitivity and unique aesthetic of Ukrainian art, with the curation of the exhibition itself a testament to the sense of community that has been such an integral mechanism in the world of Urban Art. With this, the gallery hopes to raise much needed funds for victims of the conflict.