NEW YORK, NY.- In Ukraine, Magnum Photos and Spilka are presenting Ukrainian Perspectives: Photography from the 1940s—Now, a joint photography multimedia exhibition at ChaShaMa at 227 W 29th Street in Chelsea. Accompanying the exhibition will be five live and online panel events covering a range of critical topics surrounding the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role of photography in today’s landscape, and decolonization in Ukrainian art. On April 12th, there will also be an auction of many of the works on view benefitting Spilka’s crucial relief work on the ground in Ukraine.

This exhibition, curated by Fred Ritchin and Ira Lupu, offers a visual response to political pressures that have been shaping Ukrainian representation for centuries, reclaiming narrative control by offering a glimpse into the daily lives of Ukrainians from their own points of view. Ukrainian Perspectives gives unprecedented access to a combination of archival images of pre-2014 Ukraine and war coverage by Magnum photographers, photos of post-2014 everyday life from Ukrainian photographers, and projections from all groups of participants. The show explores Ukraine and Ukrainians beyond the parameters of war, giving viewers a window into the lives of the people not just surviving the present moment, but also shaping their future.

The exhibition's first floor will feature selected images taken in Ukraine post-2014 that will be available for sale as part of the Spilka auction. The photographs were selected through an open call to professional and amateur photographers by a jury of Ukrainian photo and art professionals (Lyolya Goldstein, Yaroslav Solop, Ira Lupu, Betty Roytburd, and Lena Shkoda). These Spilka-selected works will be displayed alongside archival (pre-2014) imagery by Magnum photographers in Ukraine, including rarely-seen works by Robert Capa, Herbert List, Martin Parr, Jim Goldberg, Carolyn Drake, Thomas Dworzak, etc. Depicting everyday life in Ukraine in different moments of the 20th century, the exhibition explores a range of topics, from the displacement of indigenous Crimean Tatars and the Second World War to nature, human relationships, and everyday life. A collection of Ukrainian publications and war-related books and zines will also be on view and available for sale. On the second floor is a special installation merging photography, video, and sound by professional Ukrainian photographers who participated in the 2022 exhibition, In Ukraine, (including Sasha Maslov, Yelena Yemchuk, and Elena Subach) and coverage of the current conflict by several Magnum photographers (including Antoine D’Agata, Emin Özmen, Jerome Sessini, Paolo Pellegrin, Sabiha Çimen, among others). Some of these works will be shown as projections with a dedicated soundtrack.

Ira Lupu, co-curator of In Ukraine and Magnum Photos section with Fred Ritchin states: “In 2022 when the full scale-invasion began, tens of thousands of Ukrainians had to pick up jobs they never intended to do. As a Ukrainian, I felt the best thing I could do was to help familiarize Western audiences with the broader context of this war and Ukraine as a country — through contemporary and historical photography and the arts. A year later, the war in Ukraine still rages, but the world’s attention is fading. As the focus continues to shift away from Ukraine despite the mounting death toll, the opportunity to join forces with Magnum Photos and Spilka at this beautiful ChaShaMa space feels more crucial than ever. The work of professional and amateur Ukrainian lens-based artists converges with the “witnessing” stance of celebrated Magnum photographers, offering an unprecedented, solidified vision of pre-war and wartime Ukraine from both ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ points of view.”

Fred Ritchin, co-curator: “Photography has long provided eyewitness accounts of wars and other horrors. The question now is to what extent these images by insiders and outsiders can impact the future of Ukraine. Can they bring enough awareness, painful as it might be, to motivate a more sustained and accelerated pursuit of peace? At the very least, they serve as necessary witnesses to one of the great tragedies of our time.”

Betty Roytburd, artist, curator, and co-founder of Spilka: “Since February 2022, Ukraine has consistently been in the international news, and many people have learned about our country’s existence only by seeing Ukraine’s people fight to defend it. News about Ukraine was supported by a vast array of photographic evidence documenting the atrocities and destruction taking place. The Spilka open call invited people to share personal narratives of Ukraine through photos taken after 2014, the year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea. As the war rages on, we want to share these images which portray a distinctly Ukrainian reality in order to preserve our own narratives and the unique history of our beloved country. Alongside the incredible historical archive provided by Magnum Photos and the powerful project In Ukraine, organized by Fred Richtin and Ira Lupu, we hope that this three-part exhibition will shed light on the wonderful nuances of the Ukrainian experience and will raise awareness about the ongoing war. We are excited to lend our voices and hope you will be compelled to listen along with us.