Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum will open a new exhibition in Te Taunga Community Hub, a gallery designed to highlight Auckland’s many diverse communities and provide a space where they can share their stories.
Located in the Museum’s Grand Foyer, this exhibition from Auckland’s Ukrainian community, Ukraine: The Cost of Freedom, is a contemporary photojournalism exhibition taken from the frontline in Ukraine. The photographs show the devastation and impact the war has had on the Ukrainian people.
Everything you will see and experience in Ukraine: The Cost of Freedom has been chosen by the Auckland Ukrainian community to tell their own story, from the photos and videos on display, to the labels and signage. On select days, the community will be leading their own activations for the public.
These extraordinary and sometimes harrowing images, captured by some of the most prominent Ukrainian photographers, shed light on the pain and struggle of Ukrainian citizens who have been resisting the Russian invasion for many months. Photographers include Denys Kazanskyi, Dmytro Laryn, Serhii Myhalchuk, Kostiantyn Sova, Dmytro Kornilov, Eduard Kryzhanivskyi, Tetiana Poslavska, Dmytro Kozatsky, Datalion, Viacheslav Onyshchenko, Misha Djos and Rodrigo Abd.
All of the photographs were taken along the high-risk 1000km frontline at the risk of the photographers' own lives. Some photographs showing the ruins of Ukrainian cities, once beautiful and prosperous, now reduced to rubble, have also been exhibited internationally in Berlin, Singapore and Dublin. Many of the photographs have been provided to the exhibition by Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine’s largest news website, and most of the video content was provided by media project ‘Ukrainer’.
Since the invasion began in February of this year, more than 120,000 residential buildings, 2000 schools and 700 hospitals have been destroyed or severely damaged, as reported by Kyiv School of Economics on 13th July 2022. Thousands of lives have been lost, including more than 350 children, and more than 12 million Ukrainians have fled their homes seeking safety, according to Ukrainian officials and United Nations as per July 2022.
Previous communities Te Taunga Community Hub has hosted include the Akatokamanava Enua Community of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland’s Cook Islands Mauke community; the Sudanese community of New Zealand; the Mā’ohi Nui (Tahiti and neighbouring archipelagos) community, and Kshetra, a collective of New Zealand Indian artists.
Head of Learning and Public Programmes Kath McGhie says the concept for the gallery is to provide an exhibition space where the diverse communities of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland can share their stories, reflecting the Museum’s aspiration to be a place of belonging for all Aucklanders.
“We have created a space where a particular community can engage in authentic storytelling about their culture and identity. It provides a space for communities to share the stories that are important to them,” says McGhie.
Entry to the exhibition is free for Aucklanders.
NOTE: This exhibition contains graphic and confronting content. It may not be suitable for children under 15 years.
ABOUT:
UKRAINE: THE COST OF FREEDOM
WED 24 AUGUST - SUN 23 OCTOBER 2022, 10AM – 5PM
TE TAUNGA COMMUNITY HUB, GRAND FOYER
FREE WITH MUSEUM ENTRY
ABOUT TE TAUNGA COMMUNITY HUB:
Te Taunga means “the landing place”. Like Tāmaki Makaurau itself, Te Taunga Community Hub is a place of arrival and a coming together of people.
In Te Taunga Community Hub, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum celebrates the diverse communities of Tāmaki Makaurau by inviting them into the space to create their own exhibit. Our visitors will experience a community's story not through the Museum’s interpretation, but through the eyes of the community itself.