The War Childhood Museum opened its most recent exhibition at the Polish Institute in Kyiv, on Monday, September 18. The exhibition is dedicated to the testimonies of children from Ukraine who were forced to flee abroad due to a full-scale invasion of their country, with hundreds of thousands of them finding a temporary home in Poland. Showing personal stories and objects, this exhibition focuses on children’s lives before the war, and how they cope and adapt to the refugee circumstances. This is the first exhibition by WCM in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
“Our exhibition is about kindness and mutual support among families facing challenging circumstances, and making tough and rapid decisions to leave. It’s about the support of small and large communities, and the support of neighboring countries, especially Poland, whose border has been crossed by over 11 million Ukrainian citizens since the beginning of the full-scale war. It also highlights that even when forced to live abroad, Ukrainian citizens remain a part of our society,” said Svitlana Osipchuk, the director of the War Childhood Museum in Ukraine, at the opening.
The importance of the exhibition’s opening in Kyiv is best expressed through the words of the Founder and CEO of the War Childhood Museum, Jasminko Halilovic: “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, we have presented our Ukrainian collection in ten European countries, aiming to raise awareness of the consequences of this war for children. At the same time, we kept documenting testimonies of the children who had to leave their homes and temporarily move abroad to several European countries. Some of those testimonies we are now bringing back home so that the voices of child refugees can be heard as well. Although we are currently focused on documenting children’s experiences further, it is extremely important to us to resume our exhibiting activities in Ukraine.”
The exhibition will be open until Oct 9, 2023, with free admission for all visitors.
Working hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Tuesday and Thursday — from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday — closed.
