MUIZENEST

Voor de meesten die niet geconfronteerd worden met de directe gevolgen van de Russische inval in Oekraïne, is het conflict steeds meer een zorg op afstand geworden. Schrijnend en verontrustend, maar toch niet langer ontwrichtend voor het dagelijks leven. Om de menselijke schade van de oorlog weer onder de aandacht te brengen, installeerde de Russische beeldend kunstenaar Danila Tkachenko (Moskou, 1989) uitvergrote foto’s die de verwoesting documenteerden naast beroemde bezienswaardigheden in acht Europese steden. De foto’s waren daar in november en december 2023 te zien. Vervolgens fotografeerde Danila Tkachenko Oekraïense vluchtelingen tegen de achtergrond van deze beelden voor dit project ‘Inversion’.

Op zijn website, met geweldig ander werk van hem, heeft hij de volgende verklaring staan: ‘I demand the immediate withdrawal of all Russian occupation troops from the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine, beyond the borders called for by international law in 1991. The terrorist Russian government and all those involved in the occupation are criminals, they must stand trial and pay reparations. Peace must be restored in all of Ukraine!’

Olena, a 92-year-old former teacher, against the backdrop of a photograph showing a destroyed apartment building in Borodyanka, Kyiv region. The photograph, taken by Maxim Dondyuk, was placed in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

Twenty-five-year-old model Viktoria stands in front of a photograph showing another destroyed apartment building in Borodyanka. Captured by photojournalist Yuliа Ovsyannikova, the image was displayed by the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France.

Two-year-old Alina is held by her mother in front of an image of a destroyed bridge in Irpin, Kyiv region. The photograph, taken by Mexican photojournalist Narciso Contreras, was placed on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czechia.

Fedir, a 32-year-old lawyer, stands before a photograph showing a bombed school in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. The image, captured by Portuguese photojournalist Miguel A. Lopes, was displayed in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

Seven-year-old Khrystyna in front of a photograph of the bombed-out city of Mariupol, taken by Evgeniy Maloletka. The photograph was displayed on Montmartre hill in Paris, France.
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Ivan, a 23-year-old designer, stands in front of a photograph taken by Mykhaylo Palinchak. The image shows a church in the liberated village of Bohorodychne in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Pisa, Italy.

Anna, a 30-year-old real estate manager, stands in front of a photograph of ruins in Chernihiv, taken by Mykhaylo Palinchak. Paris, France.

Forty-year-old makeup artist Yuliia stands in front of a photograph of the destroyed Donetsk Airport, taken by Vasily Maximov. Versailles, France.

Nataliia, a 39-year-old editor, stands in front of a photograph taken by Maxim Dondyuk, showing a bombed apartment building in a settlement in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Milan, Italy.

Vladlena, a 25-year-old beautician, stands in front of a photograph of the world’s largest aircraft, Mriya (“dream” in Ukrainian), which was destroyed at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The photograph, taken by Oleksii Furman, was displayed near the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy.

Eleven-year-old Oleksandr against the backdrop of a photograph showing destroyed apartment buildings in Izyum, Kharkiv region, taken by Evgeniy Maloletka. The photograph was placed next to the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.

Anna, a 60-year-old dentist, stands in Vatican City in front of a photograph by French photojournalist Laurence Geai, taken in the village of Yatskivka, Donetsk region. Yatskivka was liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in September 2022.