“Restoring Donbas” invites to an exhibition of photographs of Kiev residents and Kiev guests

22:03 / 02 Dec. 2015 / 1515

On December 1, “Restoring Donbas” has organized an exhibition of photographs of the winners “Donbas: peace in objective lens” at the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, which would last until December 21. It is open for everyone.

During the opening ceremony, Elena Petryayeva  – the head of the initiative – reminded that the volunteers wanted to show Donbas before the hostilities and to discover it from unknown side for plethora Ukrainians.

“What associations do you have when you hear the word “Donbas”? Mines, factories, industries, etc. However, our region is famous not only for these things. Beautiful landscapes, architecture, historical and cultural monuments. The main goal was to show the beauty of Donbas before the outbreak of hostilities, to draw the world’s attention to the events in the region, to dispel the myths and tell Ukrainians about the unknown (for the majority) region”, – the head of the initiative claimed.

The jury included experts in the photography field. In particular, it comes about Vasil Botyrenko, Ihor Lyvshyts – photographer, member of the International Federation of Journalists, Leonid Dovhiy – photographer, founder and head of the Donetsk School of Photography “Fishka” and Valery Mylosyerdov– photographer, Project Manager of the Fund “ISOLATION”. Head of the jury – Victor Marushchenko – is famous Ukrainian photographer, member of more than 60 solo and group photo exhibitions in Switzerland, Germany, France, USA, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, participant of the Biennale in Venice (2001) and Sao Paulo (2004). His photographs are located in the museums, galleries and private collectors.

The members of the jury have defined four winners, who received cash prizes.

Moreover, 20 participants were awarded in the nomination “People’s Choice Award” by the end of voting in social networks. Viktor Marushchenko  – chairman of the jury – during the opening ceremony said that the works return audience back to the long-forgotten genre of amateur photography.

«I would like to note that a level of photos is really high. This complicates the work of the jury.  It is demonstrated the diversity of Donetsk region. I am sure that people, who will see these works, will reconsider today’s events. They will realize the beauty and originality of Donbas region “, – he said.

During the opening of the exhibition it was presented a few songs dedicated to Donbas and Ukraine. In addition, during the event, there was a presentation of the album, which included 100 works selected by volunteers of “Restoring Donbas”, the jury and subscribers of the initiative in social networks.

Oleksandr Lukyanchenko – Donetsk Mayor –  was the honorary guest of the exhibition. Together with the head of the initiative and chairman of the jury, he congratulated the winners and handed them awards and albums. In addition, the winners will receive cash prizes from  the charitable foundation “Donbas: Restoring!”

“Every time I look through these photos, I remember the moments of life in this beautiful region. The main thing for us – is finally to establish peace and stop killing people, “- mayor of Donetsk said during the ceremony.

Let us remind that the competition “Donbas: peace in objective lens” was held from September 1 to October 31, 2015. During this time, “Restoring Donbas” has received more than 500 photos. Their authors were both residents of Donbas and IDPs. The largest number of works came from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kiev and Kharkov.  The greatest activity was demonstrated by photographers from Gorlovka, Kramatorsk, Makeevka, Lisichansk, Anthracite and other cities in eastern Ukraine. Moreover, there were a few works from refugees from the neighboring countries.

Let us remind, October 31, 2015 photo contest “Donbas: peace in objective lens” was terminated.

By the end of the contest, “Restoring Donbas” has received more than 500 photos from different regions of Ukraine and abroad.

The restoring-donbass.com website - is an interactive platform, which was created by the "Restoring Donbas" community initiative of Oleksandr Klymenko. The latest news, blogs and analysis, background information and useful ads for IDPs and Donbas residents are available on the website.