Photo/Illutration Multinational artists jointly host an exhibition to spread an anti-war message in Fuchu, western Tokyo, on May 16. (Takuya Miyano)

Artists from Ukraine and Russia have teamed to host an anti-war art exhibition in Tokyo to voice their collective opposition to Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine, which has gone on for months now.

Lena Aframova, 46, a photographer from Ukraine who currently lives in Kanagawa Prefecture, came up with the idea of hosting the exhibition after watching news coverage of Russia’s invasion of her homeland.

“I saw destroyed homes and it troubled me,” she said.

The free exhibition, being held at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Library in Fuchu, western Tokyo, will continue until June 16.

The exhibition is titled in Russian, “Home. Smoke. Home.”

Aframova said she named it that because she wants people who attend to “rethink what home means to them.”

The term “smoke” in the title represents plumes of rising smoke on the battlefield.

But she said it has another meaning, signifying the media environment in Russia, where disinformation is being used to obfuscate the realities of the war.

Six artists, including those from Russia and Belarus living in Japan, have responded to the call from Aframova and are participating in the exhibition.

Illa Jerasevic, 29, a painter from Belarus who currently lives in Japan, is one of them.

Jerasevic said he feels bad that his home country has taken a cooperative stance toward Russia and has not opposed the invasion of Ukraine.

He has been unable to return home since he joined an opposition movement that opposes injustices committed during the 2020 Belarusian presidential election.

The work Jerasevic chose to display in the exhibition is a painting of a dining room table that he has many memories of. He said it symbolizes the home to which he cannot return.

Ilya Baibikov, 50, a flower arrangement artist from Russia who currently lives in Hyogo Prefecture, said participating in the show is “important to show solidarity for the Ukrainian people.”

“What the Russian troops are doing is unacceptable,” he said.

Aframova said they intentionally decided to display works by multinational artists, including those from Russia, to show how widespread the condemnation is against the war.

“(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin has adopted a policy that turns back the clock through attacking another country. I want to continue to show the global, unified stance to opposing the war.”

Aframova said she chose to hold the exhibition at the university because she wants young people to come to look at the art.

Kyoko Numano, a professor of Russian literature at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies who helped organize the exhibition, said, “I want the exhibition to provide an opportunity for people to develop empathy for the feelings of people who have lost their homes and think about the ways to make a world without smoke.”

Related News