Today, March 24, the exhibition “HARDENED. THE UKRAINIAN PHENOMENON” opens in Berlin, Germany.

The exhibition includes 50 works by 11 Ukrainian artists, presented chronologically.

“Ukrainian history has carved a special female character that has been hardened for centuries. In 2022, Ukrainian artists survived another challenge — the war. But despite this, they could turn their pain and desire to win into works of art. It’s as if they opened another front, a creative one, and are de facto ambassadors of Ukraine in the world,” the organizers note.

Moreover, the visitors will be able to learn each participant’s story in the exhibition. The artists told what their year 2022 was like and what they had to endure after the first Russian missiles fell on Ukraine. Polina Kuznetsova from Kharkiv is among these artists.

Kharkiv artist Polina Kuznetsova / imaginepoint.gallery

Polina Kuznetsova graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts. Her works are kept in private collections in Ukraine, the USA, China, Estonia, and the Philippines.

The artist believes that when art becomes functional, it becomes either design or propaganda. In the exhibition, Polina presents the works from the war series that the artist painted “in a small kitchen in Estonia, going through the stages of the war picture by picture, looking at the phone screen, which was the only connection with the homeland.” According to the artist, her pictures have no narrative, only feelings.

One of the project’s goals is to support Ukrainians who suffered from the war. Therefore, the Berlin gallery G.ART will donate 30% of the sale of works to the Citizen Charitable Foundation for prosthetics for the Ukrainian military.

The opening of the event takes place on March 24 at 7 p.m. at the Europa Center, Tauentzienstraße 9-12. The exhibition will be open until April 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The exhibition is part of the “Berlintegrate – Ukrainian Art Meets Berlin” project initiated by the city district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf with the support of the Foundation AusserGewöhnlich Berlin.

Earlier, The John David Mooney Foundation Gallery presented the project “Formation of Time” and an exhibition by Aliona Solomadina from Kharkiv.

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