Photography on exhibit
Chicago’s Ukrainian National Museum (UNM) hosted three exhibits devoted to photography.
An exceptional photo exhibit opened, called “Viktor Gurniak: Road from the Maidan,” on January 16. The photographs of Mr. Gurniak, a photojournalist and volunteer fighter of the Aidar Battalion offered a striking glimpse into the realities of war in Ukraine. Mr. Gurniak was killed in October 2014 during an attack in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in the Luhansk region while he was evacuating wounded soldiers. Born in Ternopil, Mr. Gurniak was co-founder of the LUFA photo agency in Lviv and a frequent contributor to Reuters, UNIAN and Insider. He devoted many years to Plast National Scouting Organization in Ukraine, where he was a beloved leader and role model. The evening’s guest speaker was Nolan Peterson, a former U.S. Air Force pilot and veteran who had also spent six months as a war correspondent in the ATO zone with Ukrainian soldiers. This exhibit later traveled to Cleveland and other Plast centers in the United States.
On May 8, the UNM opened the exhibit “Conflict Zone: Ukraine. The War in Ukraine Through the Eyes of Ukrainian Photojournalists.” This exhibit featured a selection of 50 photographs by 13 young Ukrainian photojournalists who served on the front lines of the war in eastern Ukraine as correspondents. The powerful images depicted the everyday life of soldiers, the grief-stricken faces of civilians, as well as the hope and resilience of the Ukrainian people. The idea for this showing came from Jerry Kykisz, a Vietnam veteran and the curator at the National Veterans Art Museum. UNM approached Alexey Furman, a Ukrainian photojournalist and Fulbright Scholar to recruit his colleagues for this exhibit. Mr. Furman’s photos had previously appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Geographic Magazine Ukraine. His photo of a shell-shocked woman from a hospital in Mykolayivka won first place in the portrait category of the Picture of the Year International 2015 contest. The organizers planned to display this exhibit in cities throughout the United States, including colleges and universities.
First prize in the portrait category in the Picture of the Year International 2015 contest was won by Alexey Furman for this photo (foreground).
The third exhibit at Chicago’s UNM, “Outtakes” showcased the sports photos of Charles Cherney and opened on March 13. A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Mr. Cherney was born in Chicago and is of Ukrainian heritage. He joined the Chicago Tribune as a team journalist and was also a two-time winner of the Chicago Press Photographer of the Year award. Mr. Cherney’s images delighted sports enthusiasts and included moments from Chicago sports teams: the Bears, the Bulls, the Cubs and the White Sox, as well as the Blackhawks, going back to the late 1970s.
Ukraine’s First Lady Maryna Poroshenko accepts a gift from Zenowij Onyshkewych of one of his paintings during the opening of his solo exhibition at The Ukrainian Museum. Pictured in the center is Renata Holod, president of the museum’s board of trustees.
Photos from the Maidan were also shown at the exhibition “Maidan. Ukraine. Road to Freedom” at the Stay Gallery in Downey, Calif., which opened on January 24. The Ukrainian Art Center Inc. of Los Angeles displayed posters and photos, as well as implements used by Ukrainians to fight tanks and bullets: barbed wire wrapped around sticks, metal shields, gas masks and Molotov cocktails. Gallery viewers also heard recordings from the Maidan – explosions, gunfire and people shouting. Included in the program was the West Coast premiere of “Dancing Diplomats,” a movie documenting the joint project between Voloshky Dance Ensemble and the Kirovohrad Philharmonic in 2012.