The photo exhibition ‘Masks of the Holodomor’ was on display at the National Museum “Holodomor Victims Memorial” from 7 to 28 February 2018 as an artistic, personal reflection on the theme of the Holodomor.
The basis of the exhibition was photo collages created with the photos of the artist Samara Pearce (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and her great-grandfather, Austrian engineer Alexander Wienerberger, who lived in Kharkiv in 1933 and took historical photographic evidence of the Holodomor-Genocide on the streets of the Ukrainian SSR with his camera ‘Leica’.
In 2013, Samara Pearce visited Ukraine for the first time, walking the streets her great-grandfather had once walked and she combined contemporary photographs with historical ones. In 2014, this artistic concept formed the basis of the art book ‘Masks of the Holodomor,’ which gave rise to the exhibition of the same name. Through this artistic technique, the artist emphasises the long-standing silencing and concealment of the truth about the Holodomor, which ultimately became common knowledge.
‘Masks of the Holodomor’ combines historical images of the 1933 Ukrainian famine, created by Alexander Wienerberger, with photographs taken by Samara Pearce. These combined works recreate a sense of historical distance, prompting reflection on the restrictions imposed by the Stalinist regime. They depict the dead, buried in unmarked graves, and the dying people of Ukraine who took to the streets of Kharkiv in search of food.
The author about her project ‘Masks of Holodomor‘
The presentation of the ‘Masks of Holodomor‘ exhibition took place during Samara Pearce’s visit to Ukraine. At the meeting with scholars and journalists at the Holodomor Victims Memorial, she talked about the life of her great-grandfather and her family, as well as her work to raise awareness among the British public about the genocide of Ukrainians.
The exhibition ‘Masks of Holodomor’ is available for temporary exhibition in other cities, in the museums and exhibition spaces of Ukraine. The collection includes 12 large photographs, each measuring 85×60 cm.
