- Venue
- Henrion Gallery, University of Staffordshire
- Starts
- Monday, February 24, 2025
- Ends
- Monday, March 3, 2025
- Address
- Henrion Building, College Rd, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 2DE
- Location
- Across UK
- Organiser
- Yuliia Hoilovatiuk-Ungureanu, University of Staffordshire
Ukrainian Artist Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu Presents
“My Voice is Hoarse from Pain” – An Exhibition on War, Memory, and Resilience
February 18 – March 3, 2025
Henrion Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom – Marking the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “My Voice is Hoarse from Pain” is a powerful exhibition by Ukrainian artist Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu. A contemporary multidisciplinary artist and refugee, Holovatiuk-Ungureanu offers a deeply personal exploration of war, loss, and cultural survival.
The exhibition combines photography, found objects, archival materials, and large-scale installations, documenting the destruction of Ukraine and the resilience of its people. At the heart of the show is a monumental 16-meter wallpaper installation, capturing the devastation of Ukrainian homes and cities through photographs taken by the artist during her journey to Ukraine in 2024.
Key works include “MonaLisa”, an installation featuring a flower rescued from the ruins of the Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design in Kyiv, which was partially destroyed by a Russian missile on March 25, 2024. Alongside it, “MonaLisa’s Diary” presents a handwritten account of survival and re-rooting, serving as a metaphor for cultural endurance. Another striking piece, “Stolen Voice of Ukraine”, incorporates nearly 500 pages of archival documents detailing the persecution and execution of Ukrainian artist Mykhailo Boichuk by the Soviet regime in 1937, and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1958, underscoring a long history of repression against Ukrainian culture.
“For the past three years, my life has been shaped by war, displacement, and the search for ways to preserve memory through art. As I navigate exile, my practice has become a space of self-reinvention, remembrance, and resistance. This exhibition is my voice, my story, and my act of defiance,” says Yuliia.
Exhibition Highlights:
- “My Wallpaper. Fragments of a Lost Home” – A 16-meter wallpaper installation documenting the destruction of Ukrainian cities through photographic fragments, immersing viewers in the stark realities of war.
- “Fragmented Memories I & II” – A dual installation exploring the destruction of homes in Irpin and Kryvyi Rih. Burned photographs, charred paper, and preserved soil serve as testaments to war’s devastation and forced displacement.
- “I Have to Leave My Childhood Here” – A melted plastic chair found in a war zone, symbolizing childhoods destroyed by war. Once an object of innocence, now grotesquely deformed by missile fire.
- “Lost Dreams” – Dedicated to Ukrainian children who have lost their lives. Suspended paper planes from children’s books symbolize stolen innocence, frozen between memory and loss.
- “Echoes of Remembrance” – Three suspended sculptures encasing soil from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kryvyi Rih. These preserved earth samples act as vessels of memory, connecting identity and homeland despite displacement.
- “The Escape” – A striking installation featuring personal objects from Yuliia and her children’s escape on February 24, 2022. A baby stroller, bags, and clothes entangled in barbed wire symbolize the urgency of forced migration.
Artist Talks & Discussions:
- February 19 – 19:00
- February 25 – 18:00
- February 27 – 13:00
(Registration required via QR code on exhibition materials.)
“My Voice is Hoarse from Pain” ensures that the voices of those affected by war are neither forgotten nor silenced. It stands as both a testament to survival and an artistic call to preserve cultural memory in the face of destruction.
For media inquiries, interviews, and exhibition access, please contact: Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu
📧 [email protected]
📞 +44 7424 442095
Where suffering speaks, silence is not an option.
