Thoughts After 13 Interviews
I have completed 13 interviews so far, and have two more this week. Most stories were told to me by mothers who fled Ukraine with their children and are now beginning their new lives in different places around the world. Some, ready to start fresh and others just want to go home. At the beginning of each interview, I said the following to the participant: “Please introduce yourself, your family and tell me about your life before the war.” For 80% of them, this was the only thing I needed to ask, and their story just began to flow.
Multiple accounts of families witnessing active rocket and gunfire right in front of them, some who had to run for cover, some who had to drive through the middle of it. At the end of each conversation, I usually ask the question “If you could tell the world anything, what would you say?” And a few people have answered with: Cherish what you have, while you have it. I will leave this without comment.
Ukrainian language has been described by many as an identity. As the symbol of pride for our nation. Many have identified the vyshyvanka (Ukrainian embroidered shirt) and the Ukrainian flag, to be symbols as well. And of course, the greeting: Слава Україні! (Glory to Ukraine!) and response: Героям слава! (Glory to the heroes!).
During all of these conversations, I have slowly been realizing the place of art in the world, in war and in justice. Art is something that reflects and preserves culture, it is something that tells stories. Art captures and transmits the human experience, the only thing really, that is honest. Which means we can find truth, honesty, love and care in art. And it doesn’t matter if it’s literal. We are all humans, so even if something is abstract, we can feel the presence and energy of it. We experience it, and we don’t have to understand it, because we can feel it. Besides, if we could understand everything, then we could write about everything. And this is not a fact, because paintings and music exist for which there are no words.
Thank you for joining me in this project.
Sending Hugs.
This project is made possible with the support of Canada Council for the Arts.