Opening: Faces of War - Ukrainian Refugees, Andy Gato Gallery, Barry University, Miami

Faces of War- Ukrainian refugees, an exhibition of photographs by Jano Stovka opens at Barry University’s Andy Gato Gallery on Saturday, September 24, at 7pm. This exposition is a THINK+feel Contemporary collaboration with the University’s Center for Immigration Studies and its Department of Fine Art. All featured images were taken by a Slovak professional photographer, Jano Stovka, at the Slovak-Ukrainian border in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This exhibition brings to our audience documentary evidence of the current Ukrainian refugee crisis at the border between Ukraine and Slovakia in the wake of the Russian invasion. More than 9.8 million* refugees who have fled Ukraine, while an estimated 7 million people have been displaced within the country. In total, more than 16 million* people – more than a quarter of the country’s population of 44 million– have left their homes in Ukraine. The invasion has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since the end of World War II, and one of the largest refugee crises in the world in the 21st century, with the highest refugee flight rate in the world.

Slovakia, a country of only 4.7 million accepted 275 thousand refugee women and children long term while almost 750 thousand* refugees crossed the Slovak border and stayed in the country at least temporarily.

The dire situation at the border found women with children fleeing their homes to save their lives. These women found themselves single-handedly taking care of their children with no financial support, no housing, no food, and no language skills leaving their husbands and parents behind.

Mr. Stovka was one of the first photographers at the Ukrainian-Slovak border to document the situation in early March 2022, and continued through June 2022. Jano has been volunteering, raising money, collecting food and clothing for the Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia, as well as for the displaced persons within Ukraine.

Hundreds of thousands came through temporary shelters and stayed in tent cities that were built to house them and afford them the time to decide to either stay in Slovakia or continue on their way westward.

A debt of gratitude is owed to all of the volunteers who were first to come to the border crossings to help their fellow men and women. They brought supplies, cooked food, built tents, helped to carry suitcases and entertained frightened children.

Jano Stovka is commercial photographer but he is not a journalist. He went to the border as a volunteer and stayed for several days- which is where we our paths crossed as I was also volunteering as an interpreter. It is only natural that as a photographer he wanted to capture what was going on. After all, the conflict in Ukraine is the first fighting war on the European continent since the WWII. The refugee crisis impacted him not only as a artist but first and foremost as a human being and as the father of a little boy.

We both stayed at the border for months and continue to help to this day. When asked about the reason Jano said : “ I don’t want to even imagine that my elderly parents or, God forbid, my wife and my son would have to undertake a similar journey”. I can’t but wholeheartedly agree.“

The time we spent at the border solidified our dedication to be part of the humanitarian efforts via fundraising and providing humanitarian aid of which this exhibition is a part. We traveled to Ukraine with Stovka and we have included a few photos from our May and June 2022 humanitarian trips there as well.

We would like to thank the Barry University Institute for Immigration Studies and the Department of Fine Arts for their generous assistance and help in these humanitarian efforts.

Silvia Lattova, Founder, THINK+feel Contemporary

The “Faces of War: Ukrainian Refugees” exhibition was organized by THINK+feel Contemporary in kind cooperation with the Barry University Institute for Immigration Studies and the Department of Fine Arts.

*latest data provided by UNHCR as of September 13, 2022.

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