Ukraine
The Centre for Art and Politics stands with our colleagues from the Centre for Russian, Soviet, Central, and Eastern European Studies (CRSCEES) to express our horror and outrage over the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military. We unequivocally condemn this war unleashed by the Russian government on Ukrainian territory with the support of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s government in Belarus. We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and all those in Ukraine whose lives are in danger. Ukrainians deserve peace and justice, and we admire their spirit. While Ukraine draws attention of the media around the world, we also stand in solidarity with all people fighting for their lives against occupation, war, and oppression. Moreover, we stand in solidarity with Russians and Belarusians who risk their safety to stop their brutal regimes, as well as migrants from Central Asia who are affected by the sanctions against the Russian government. Many in our academic community have close ties to the region. This war not only directly threatens the lives of people in Ukraine; it tears apart the cultural fabric of the region directly, destroying archives, artwork, and heritage. We commit to doing all we can to support our Ukrainian colleagues and to preserve intercultural dialogue.
If you are interested in supporting the besieged people of Ukraine, please click the link below for more information
Russian Forces Strik Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Site
On 1 March 2022 Russian forces struck the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre in a missile attack. The BYHMC, built on Europe’s largest mass grave of the Holocaust, recently unveiled “The Crystal Wall of Crying” by Marina Abramović on 8 October 2021, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the mass atrocity when Nazi forces murdered the entirety of Kyiv’s Jewish population, some 33,000 people, between 29 and 30 September 1941. The unveiling ceremony of the “Crystal Wall of Crying”, which was one of the largest art objects built in Europe in the last decade, was attended by the Presidents of Ukraine, Germany, and Israel. Testimony given at the Nuremburg Trials following the Second World war documented how further Jews, Roma, Ukrainians, and Prisoners of War were brought to Babyn Yar to be executed, suggesting that more than 100,000 people were murdered there. More recent studies suggest that that number could be as high as 200,000.
A Statement from the BYHMC Advisory Board Chair Natan Sharanksy
A BYHMC Press Release for the unveiling of “The Crystal Wall of Crying”
A Link to The Crystal Wall of Crying
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