New York Times
“We believe that women have a special role to play in war, and, unfortunately, wars scar women in so many ways. Because wars are not waged just between armies; they have such a profound impact on the life of a woman,” Popovych explains. She has witnessed the women in her life take on these different roles; of the warrior, the mother, the healer, and the caretaker, but the war has changed her too. Popovych herself is a mother of three but has become a caretaker to the children of friends and family, making sure they live in safety outside of Ukraine.
Street artists paint a mural near a building in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, 18 August 2022. Ukrainian street artist Yulia Abramova, with friends and colleagues, paints a mural depicting a symbolic red tree of life and white storks as talismans, which symbolically guard Ukraine during the Russian invasion. Image: EPA-EFE / SERGEY DOLZHENKO
‘Rage to your enemies. Love to your friends’ by Olesya Drashkaba. ‘Ukrainian traditional pillar candles are used to decorate the festive table when friends gather to celebrate an occasion and our ancestors’ lives are being remembered. This pillar candle, while burning with fury and total resistance, at the same time preserves sprouts of love and power inside itself to enhance the strength of our own.
“The more I learn about the experience of South Africans, I see how that just up until recently, people in this country had to stand up and protest, and sometimes sacrifice their lives, for the ability to live with dignity, and to be free,” she says. “It was probably one of the highlights of my life, very similar to when Ukrainians voted for independence on 1991 when I was growing up. And I remember that feeling of freedom.
‘In the afterlife, you’ll know where to get your braids from’ by Sveta Grib, displayed at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation at the Old Granary Building in Cape Town. Image: SuppliedA woman dances at the opening of ‘The Womanly Face of War’ exhibit in Cape Town. Image: Supplied