So I would ask you all, when you enter this exhibition on tour, to truly, actually explore it. When looking at “homes to protect” as seen, in blending, by four Ukrainians and four Dutch, think: what does “a home to protect” mean for me? What can I do, right now, even a small thing, to make sure it is free of war? And when you exit our exhibition, please do not leave those thoughts in your mind. Do translate them to actions.
These were the opening words by Anna Bezpala, project lead (pictured below, right), at this Friday’s exhibition opening of Shared Home.Shared Fight, a Dutch-Ukrainian art exhibition that thematizes the concept of home and the protection it offers in wartime.
Related upcoming exhibition events:
If you missed the opening this Friday, you can still visit the exhibition until 27 July at Arti et Amicitiae (Rokin 112, 1012 LB Amsterdam). We have a diverse lineup of parallel events through the exhibition period:
July 4 at 16:30 – Coffee in a Shared Home: Q/A with our artists
July 10 – Poetry and music evening with Daria Lysenko
July 18 at 16:00 – Panel discussion “Shared Fight? In Modern Europe” on the theme of what a shared duty to protect Europe mean for the people living here
July 24 at 12:00 – Zine-making workshop with Edwin Van Gelder and Hanna Hrabarska
Artistic exploration of a shared home and fight
The exhibition brings together four Ukrainian-Dutch artist duos who respond to the question: What does a home to protect mean to you?
The collaboration between Anna Kakhiani and Els van der Graaf merges intergenerational reflections on displacement and cultural roots, while photographer Hanna Hrabarska and designer Edwin van Gelder stage a dialogue between intimate refugee narratives and spatial storytelling. The pairs of Katya Motyleva with Esmee van Zeeventer, and Sophia Bulgakova with Yemer Marnius broaden the discourse through immersive and mixed-media approaches, each weaving personal and political histories into a shared European context.
The decision to create this exhibition together with Dutch artists is especially strong, shaped by war and the need for solidarity. Such a gesture also aligns closely with VATAHA’s mission to amplify Ukrainian voices while connecting them to the Dutch cultural landscape. Meaningfully contextualized artworks from the artists’ duos reinforce the exhibition’s core message that safeguarding political and cultural ‘homes’ is not only a personal task but a collective one.
With compelling public programming alongside, the exhibition extends beyond static display into participatory reflection. Shared Home.Shared Fight achieves an exciting balance: a space for individual expression and collective contemplation, urging viewers to reconsider what it truly means to defend a home, both personal and shared.
A postponed opening
Shared Home.Shared Fight was originally scheduled to open a week earlier on 20 June 2025. However, only days before the opening, the SHSF team was informed that a russian-curated exhibition with a russian imperial view of history would be taking place would be taking place in parallel – in the opposite exhibition space, for exactly the same exhibition time.
The exhibition’s team consists of three young Ukrainian cultural practitioners: Liza Vozniuk (curator), Anna Bezpala (project lead), Valeriia Hlumova (art director and designer). The exhibition is done in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute in the Netherlands and Arti et Amicitiae, co-sponsored by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Het Cultuurfonds, Leve het Geven and our many donors from the Voordekunst crowdsurfing platform.
Want to see more events like this? Consider making a tax-deductible donation here!