Exhibition „Mom, I don’t want war! 1939-45 Poland / 2022 Ukraine”
08.09.2022
The Embassy of Poland presents a common Polish-Ukrainian archival project consisting of drawings of Polish children from 1946 preserved in the Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw and contemporary drawings of Ukrainian children, related to the war currently taking place in Ukraine, collected on the “Mom, I See War” portal.
“A child is not a soldier, he does not defend the homeland, though he suffers with it”. Janusz Korczak
The exhibition presents the incredibly moving testimonies of war - from historical drawings of Polish children from 1946, which are a record of their experiences during World War II and the German occupation of 1939-1945, and contemporary drawings of Ukrainian children, related to the war currently taking place in Ukraine.
We aim to show that war always looks the same through the eyes of a child. Irrespective of place and time, it is a huge evil, and the child is always the victim of it. The similarity between historical and present-day drawings is striking. Children draw tanks, planes dropping bombs, fires, and explosions. They draw the injured and the dead, the ruined houses, the graves. They draw themselves and their family, they draw evacuation and escape. But they also draw hope and their dreams for the future.
By putting images and words together in thematic groups: fighting, occupation, family, repression, resistance, destruction, victory-hope, the creators of the exhibition want to emphasise the fact of how similar the scenarios of the invading wars are. The time changes, the place changes, the child witnesses change, but the war is always the same: “It cannot hear nor see, still less feel” J.J. Letria.
The exhibition will be presented in the Municipality of Kallithea, at the Cultural and Youth Area, Mantzagriotaki & Esperidon Str., on Saturday 10th of September 2022.
