Editor’s Note: The following was provided by Roberta’s Art Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Roberta’s Art Gallery is honored to host “The Wall: Witness to the War in Ukraine” by Iva Sidash, which features photos of buildings now scarred by full-scale war in Ukraine. In each image lies memories of the past, bringing awareness of the families, friends, and stories of what these now destroyed walls once held. Sidash’s work has been part of group exhibits in Kyiv, Paris, Berlin, and elsewhere, but this will be her first solo exhibit.
The exhibit opens on Sept. 25 and will be on display until Oct. 20. There will be an artist reception on Sept. 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., which includes an artist talk with Sidash, an audience Q&A, and an open house with refreshments.
“The Wall: Witness to the War in Ukraine” is a collection of photographs taken in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. These photographs depict burned homes and fragments of walls. This exhibit invites the audience to reflect on these scorched remnants and what they once represented. Sidash’s photographs are symbolic of what has been done to the people who lived within the walls. Sidash says, “Now all Ukrainians are like those walls, burned by war, covered with scars, and forever changed.”
Sidash is a Ukrainian documentary photographer based in Lviv who has been covering the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine since its beginning in 2022. Before the invasion, Sidash was a finalist in the International Fujifilm Moment Street Photo Awards, and her work has been exhibited in France, Germany, and Spain. Sidash uses her own visual language to connect viewers with the trauma of war in Ukraine. Sidash says, “I found this language in a series of artistic photographs. I believe it is necessary to talk about the war in all possible languages.”
Sidash will participate in a UW-Whitewater History Department public event on Monday, Sept. 25, with visiting photography scholar Abigail Lewis of the University of Notre Dame at 7 p.m. in Summers Auditorium in the University Center. On Tuesday, Sept. 26, Lewis will introduce Sidash at the exhibit reception at Roberta’s Art Gallery.
Roberta’s Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the James R. Connor University Center at 800 W. Main Street, Whitewater, Wis. The gallery collaborates with campus departments, student organizations, and community artists in coordinating and sponsoring exhibits. During the academic year, the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday. Roberta’s Art Gallery is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
At Roberta’s Art Gallery, we pride ourselves in providing free and open exhibits to the public, and attending certain events can earn students class credit. If you are interested in being featured in the gallery, please contact us for a proposal request. Reach us at ucart@uww.edu or 262-472-3193. Visit our website for any questions or inquiries and follow our Instagram at uww_rag.
