Ukraine: The Cost of Freedom

The heartbreaking and inspiring new exhibition is revealing the realities of war-torn Ukraine.
Sarah Templeton
September 06, 2022

Overview

New to Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum is a community-led exhibition showing the realities of a war-torn corner of the world that's been in our hearts and minds.

In the Te Taunga Community Hub in the museum's Grand Foyer is Ukraine: The Cost of Freedom, a new contemporary photojournalism exhibition from Auckland's Ukrainian community.

The selection of extraordinary — and sometimes harrowing — images handpicked by the Ukrainian community show the devastation and impact the Russian invasion is having on citizens.

According to a museum spokesperson, all of the photographs were taken along the high-risk 1000km frontline at the risk of the photographers' own lives. Photographers include Denys Kazanskyi, Dmytro Laryn, Serhii Myhalchuk, Kostiantyn Sova, Dmytro Kornilov, Eduard Kryzhanivskyi, Tetiana Poslavska, Dmytro Kozatsky, Datalion, Viacheslav Onyshchenko, Misha Djos and Rodrigo Abd.

Sergii Mykhalchuk

Many of the shots have also been exhibited internationally in Berlin, Singapore and Dublin.

The photo exhibition promises to be revealing and at times heartbreaking, and the museum says it may not be suitable for under-15s due to harrowing content — a separate sign-posted section contains photographs depicting explicit harm to adults and children.

Running from Wednesday, August 24 until Sunday, October 23 in the Te Taunga Community Hub, the exhibition can be viewed between 10am– 5pm each day. The exhibition is free to view with museum entry.

Information

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