Dasha Ilyashenko, an independent curator, had a vision of using art and community to raise funds for Ukraine, while encouraging artists to share their raw response to war and peace through their work. The results? A powerful exhibit whose effects will last long after its end. There were two goals; raise awareness and raise funds. Six days, 23 thousand NIS, and one new community later, they did just that.
Dasha is a Russian Olah based in Tel Aviv, who’s deeply involved in creating spaces around art, Israel and community. While the open call for art submissions, anything from painting to photographs to poetry to live performances, was open to anyone who wanted, about 90% of the art submissions were from Russian speaking Israelis, both Ukrainian and Russian.
The exhibit, titled “Vse Bude Ukraina״ or “Everything will be Ukraine” was hosted at Kuli Alma, a very well-known nightclub based in South Tel Aviv with an eclectic slew of rooms filled with music and Tel Avivy type art—think headless Barbie’s and glow-in-the-dark posters—scattered across its walls, ran from March 20th through March 26th. Upon entering the club, cue Ukrainian music playing in the background and enter the exhibit room. Dasha divided the pieces into two walls; one wall representing “peace” and the other representing “war,” a powerful contrast. Each piece had its own story; from a new Oleh whose father is Ukrainian and mother Russian, to a 19-year-old Oleh whose family is still in Ukraine and is “overwhelmed by emotions,” and a piece by a Tel Aviv based Russian artist who wanted to preserve her childhood memories of being raised in Ukraine by creating an intricate rug reminding her of flowers her father once gifted her mother in a time not so long ago. The quality of the art, the emotion the pieces invoked, and the overall quality of the exhibit made me wonder how they managed to pull this off so quickly. There were even postcards of some of the artworks available for purchase. All of the artwork in the exhibit was priced at under 1K NIS so that the work would be affordable.
It seems that Dasha is not alone in her vision to support Ukraine through the arts. “A lot of people are trying to do the same on some level” says Dasha, with events popping up around the country like spoken word poetry, donation based concerts, and more. Some events are more personally motivated than others; one of Dasha’s colleagues hosted a solo photo exhibition in Florentine using photos of his parents’ destroyed home in Ukraine.
Dasha feels this is her duty and blessing because she lives in Israel. “If I was in Russia I wouldn’t be able to do this.” “There’s a very special and very large Russian speaking community in Israel. For them, this is personal.” The exhibit may have ended, but the work doesn’t stop there. Dasha wants to continue displaying this exhibition some way or another – selling unsold artwork, online, and even trying to start an NFTs collection. The Russian speaking art community that responded to the open call, will now become part of a new, emerging Russian speaking community and participate in long-term workshops, knowledge sharing, events and more.
Raised funds from the exhibit will go to @palyanytsya_support, a group of Israeli-Ukrainian activists with the goal to link those in need with those who can provide assistance. As well as @Zgraya a volunteer group that helps civilians, hospitals, and forces with medication, equipment and food. Providing hot meals, humanitarian assistance at metro stations and bomb shelters, evacuating civilians from Chernihiv and organizing basic life support courses for civilians and others.
It is often hard to use words to express ourselves in difficult times. But art, art speaks for itself.
Follow @vsebude on instagram to see how you can support this new community and efforts in Ukraine.
