Before the Independence Day of Ukraine, an exclusive photo project dedicated to our defenders and their relatives, whose lives were changed by the war, was launched in Lviv.
“The generation of the indomitable. The art of creation” is the story of six indomitable Ukrainians who, through their own courage and zest for life, demonstrate that we are indomitable. The exhibition can be viewed until September 3, after which it is planned to be presented abroad.
The heroes of the photo project were seriously injured and need long-term treatment and rehabilitation, but they want to say to society: “We live on, continue to smile, dream, and we want you not to hide your eyes when you see us.”
The opening of the photo exhibition took place the day before in the PM Gallery, with the participation of patients of the National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN and the authors of the photos. Lviv artists Volodymyr Shurubura, Sasha Sako, Marta Sako and Olenka Galazyuk were able to record the unique stories of people who suffered in the struggle for Ukraine, and through art to give people the opportunity to see their beauty, strength and indomitability.
According to Oleg Samchuk, the general director of the First Medical Association of Lviv, the NEZLAMNI National Rehabilitation Center has already received 15,000 wounded people since the beginning of the Great War.
“I want to say that we admire their fortitude, courage and indomitability. The way they recover from injuries and fight for every move is about great strength. They also help us become better, learn new technologies and practices. Actually, to develop. This is really a team effort – of medical workers and patients. And they also teach us how to live in a society where there will be many people with prostheses and physical disabilities. They teach not to feel sorry for them, they teach to react correctly, not to hide their eyes. This is what this photo project is about. I thank our boys and girls who agreed to participate. Thanks to the photographers. And thank you to everyone who will support this exhibition. I’m sure it will help Ukrainians to better understand each other,” said Oleg Samchuk, general director of the First Medical Association of Lviv.
One of the heroes of the exhibition is defender Mykhailo Bakaliuk. He is tormented by a phantom pain in a leg that is not there. Going to storm enemy positions, a serviceman stepped on a mine. The leg could not be saved. Currently, at the NEZLAMNI center, Mykhailo continues the difficult path of rehabilitation and is preparing for prosthetics. Psychotherapists work with him every day.
“I want people to know: every piece of freed land is given to us with blood and pain. The path to rehabilitation is not always as simple as we think. This is not just treatment and prosthetics. This is a very difficult and exhausting process for each patient: daily work on pain, physical and psychological rehabilitation, socialization. And the idea of this photo exhibition is to show exactly what we are going through,” Mykhailo shares his own experience of treating a war injury.
The proponents of the photo project idea, Lviv photographers Volodymyr Shurubura, Sasha Sako and Olenka Galazyuk note that one of the priority tasks of today’s society is the social adaptation and psychological comfort of soldiers with amputations and other severe consequences of war trauma. Therefore, in more than fifty photos, they strive to show how the life of our defenders continues in society, and how, despite severe injuries, they try to return to their normal lives – to their families and their usual everyday affairs.
“Just as at one time modern art could be incomprehensible to us, in the same way we may not understand people with prostheses or with some injuries now. But in reality they are the same as us. Even more interesting. They are all beautiful, all extraordinary, interesting personalities, people from whom you can glean and learn a lot. And we were very inspired by this shoot and very grateful to the guys that they so conveyed what we wanted to embody, that power, strength and this acceptance. It is modern, beautiful, interesting, and it is our future, without which there would be no Ukraine,” summed up Marta Sako, stylist and co-author of the photo project.
The photo exhibition will last two weeks, until September 3, at PM Gallery (17 Kopernyka St.). Next in the plans is its presentation abroad.
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The NEZLAMNI National Rehabilitation Center is a unique place where adults and children affected by the war receive comprehensive qualified medical care. This is reconstructive surgery, orthopedics and robotic prosthetics. Victims are not only fitted with prostheses, they are made here. In addition, the Center deals with physical, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation of injured military personnel and civilians. The project is implemented by the First Medical Association of Lviv and the Lviv City Council with the support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.