This September Alton's Allen Gallery is hosting two exhibitions by Ukrainian artists, as well as a film night in partnership with the Memories of the Palace Cinema Oral History Project and members of the Alton community who have been supporting local Ukrainian families.
From 13 – 19 September, the gallery will host Unbowed. Stories of Ukraine an exhibition of portrait photography.
This powerful photography project was produced by a group of Ukrainian women in Surrey who met through an arts-for-wellbeing programme in Farnham.
The project, partly funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, records the women’s personal experiences of leaving their homes, their friends and family in Ukraine, living in the UK and of the ongoing trauma of the war. The exhibition has toured several venues across south-east England.
The Ukraine art group was set up in November 2022, supported by Creative Response Arts and Activate Learning. Among the members was award-winning photojournalist Natalia Sharomova, who taught portrait photography to others in the group. All the photographs in the exhibition were taken by members of the group using their newly learned skills and each portrait is accompanied by a personal story in the sitter’s own words, translated into English. These stories all demonstrate the extraordinary resilience and fortitude of this group of Ukrainian ladies, but they also tell a much wider story: a story of how people can come together in times of crisis to work together to help one another overcome hardships and enrich the lives of many people.
This will be followed by Genesis of Creation, an exhibition of paintings, graphics and mosaics from 21 September – 1 October.
Genesis of Creation presents work by three established Ukrainian artists who are all members of the same family: Olga Borysova, Maria Borysova and Irina Borysova. Olga Borysova, an architect and urban landscape Ukrainian artist, will show her watercolours inspired by Alton and nearby views since she came to England in 2022. Maria Borysova is a contemporary artist whose work reflects on themes of the female experience, motherhood and life in war conditions. The work includes paintings, graphics and mosaics. Irina Borysova is a well-known Ukrainian-American artist with a wide range of art practices: animation, ceramics, graphics, book Illustrations, one-of-a-kind dolls, stage sets and puppets for theatre. Her graphics will be presented at the exhibition.
On Saturday 14 September the Allen Gallery will show Academy Award-winning film 20 Days in Mariupol (18).
This unflinching and harrowing account documents the human toll in Mariupol, the south-eastern city of Ukraine, during the invasion of Russian forces in 2022. It has won multiple awards, including the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. The film will start at 7:00pm with a brief introductory talk; the gallery café will be open from 6:30pm for drinks.