Ukrainian refugee crisis (Slovak border) - an exhibition of photographs by Jan Stovka
In the wake of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine more than 3.7 million refugees have left the country while an estimated 6.5 million people have been displaced within Ukraine. In total, more than ten million people – almost a quarter of the country’s population of 44 million– had left their homes. The invasion has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II and its aftermath the first of its kind in Europe since the War in Yugoslavia Wars in the 1990s, and one of the largest refugee crises in the world in the 21st century, with the highest refugee flight rate in the world.
The vast majority of refugees have directly entered neighboring nations to the west of Ukraine: Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia.
Slovakia, a country of only 4,7 million accepted about 275 thousand refugee women and children as of the end of March 2022. The situation at the border since the beginning of the war has been dire. Women with children fleeing their homes to save their lives. As it is always the case in wars, women are carrying the heaviest burden of this conflict- as they 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 often even parents behind.
To raise awareness about the current situation at the Ukrainian-Slovak border we decided to organize an impromptu exhibition of works by a renown Slovak photographer Jan Stovka who has been documenting the flood of Ukrainian refugees to Slovakia. Jan spent last few weeks at the Slovak-Ukrainian border capturing consequences of the war - Ukrainian refugees flight from their war-torn homeland. Emotionally charged, these photographs are mute witnesses of the horrors of the ongoing war.
We are pleased that Artsy platform where this online exhibition can be viewed prompted by the ongoing situation in Ukraine has been showcased by Artsy platform.
All photographs by Jan Stovka.
