Charkiw: caught between yesterday and today
We stand at the Waisenhausdamm. Street number 8-11 is our goal. The former florist shop is currently home of an foto exhibition. It is about Charkiw, a city in the east of Ukraine. A city, which name and geography was only known to a handful of people. In the past weeks however, the second biggest city of the Ukraine become infamous. Charkiw is one of the cities that suffers especially from the shelling of the Russian army. Since end of February there is something going on that nobody considered possible: a war of aggression in the middle of Europe. This unbelievable and threatening tragedy is the focus of the exhibition, which can be visited since June 23rd at Waisenhausdamm 8-11. Under the perspective „Charkiw between yestreday and today pictures of photographer Volodymir Ogloblin and his student Elena Dolzhenko are being contrasted. Ogloblin’s prints show the past and aspiring Charkiw. Dolzhenko on the contrary records the horror of the useless destruction by the Russian Army.
Pain is so close to pleasure
“Pain is so close to pleasure” Freddie Mercury once told us in a song. And it is exactly that antagonism that is depicted in seven large-size pictures. It sounds like mockery when you read travel advices for the region from the past compared to the current pictures on TV or at the Waisenhausdamm. On a where once weddings took place a fireman sits on the ground, smoking a cigarette gazing desperately on the ruins of a building. Just a minute ago there was a fabric which is now gone. What is left is suffering, loss and helplessness.
Personal guidance through the exhibition
Standing in front of the exhibition we are being addressed. It is no one less than the daughter of Volodymir Ogloblin who looks at the pictures with us and talks about the Ukraine. She has been living in Germany for more than 30 years now. Her father intended to stay in Charkiw she tells us. However, upon the destruction of his studio he grabs two suitcases and flees to his daughter. He does not want to stay. He wants to support the reconstruction of the city. His student Elena Dolzhenko is still at Charkiw and wants to stay there. She guides journalists through her city. With the help of her camera she records the current affairs.
No pictures of dead people
Upon the conception oft he exhibition the organizer asked not to show pictures of dead people in public space. It is not necessary anyhow. The absolutely useless destruction documented by the fotos is already unconceivable enough. It’s the contrast of the pictures that makes them visualy stunning. „The pictures“, Ogloblin’s daugther tells us, „are connected to each other by its colours. On the one hand it is the innocent white of a wedding dress which is reflected in the ruins of a bombed house. On the other hand colourful balloons have the same paint as a destroyed and burnt out car.
Whereto with all the rubble and ash?
At the end of the tour we wonder how the Ukraine will carry on after this war? Will the Ukraine make it into the EU? Will it be a more democratic state? Will the government succeed in fighting the corruption? Will there be more social and economic equality? The reconstruction of the cities, that’s for sure, will not only be expensive but will take much time. „I wonder“ Ogloblin’s daugther tells us, „whereto with all the rubble and ash?“ Being thankful for all the useful insights we leave the exhibition thoughtfully.
Intercultural workshop at the TU Braunschweig
Even though many pedestrians are walking by carelessly, this war in Europe is an incident that noboday can ignore. Right on our doorstep a conflict takes place which nobody expected to happen in the West. And that is also new: the hostility has direct consequences on our lives. Goods are scarce, groceries become more expensive, inflation proceeds, the end of the story is uncertain. This is an enforced study of this situation which concerns everybody. Whereas other crisis are at best noticed with disapproval, this conflict is something that brings the Ukraine to Germany. This factor is depicted in an intercultural workshop hosted by the TU Braunschweig on two consecutive fridays in July.
Hopefully, two things will come true: on the one hand a fast end of the war. On the other hand that the interest in our European neighbours will outlast the conflict.
