Artists in War
Creative Ukrainians are turning to matters both practical and creative
Hello, this is United Ukraine co-founder reporting oon the second half of last week,. At United Ukraine, our focus is on families. But we are always talking to Ukrainians both in and out of Ukraine looking for opportunities to coordinate and collaborate on projects.
The reason we've been able to work so effectively is that we've been able to be in constant contact and collaboration with a large number of Ukrainian grassroots organizations doing the work of supporting the Ukrainian people during this conflict. These contacts have been instrumental in making it possible for us to do what we do because of their immense local connections and know-how. One of these organization is called Dotychni, and we've been in frequent contact with Ievgeniia Ficarra one of the founders.
For her, protecting the soldiers that are protecting her, is an intensely personal story for her. She is a filmmaker. In the thumbnail photo below the man on the left is a colleague of hers: An actor turned soldier. The boy he is holding in this photo is no longer alive. This underscores the urgency of her project to get helmets. For her, one helmet is one life. You can find a fundraiser specific to her fundraiser here.
She’s also, as a filmmaker trying to create a documentary about Mariupol a topic which is important to Adam and I because it’s the city that been at the center of our most intense efforts like the story of this family:
This family all resided together in an apartment building in Mariupol. When their son grew up. He moved into an apartment down the hall. That ended when the apartment was hit by a Russian airstrike.
The mother was injured during the air attack on the building. Because of her injuries, she was unable to evacuate the city with the rest of the family. This is a scenario we encounter a lot. In war, nothing is easy and straightforward and it’s often a case of choosing between two bad options. Sometimes there are no options.
But because of your support we were able to reunite the family, evacuating the mother to join the rest of the family in Dnipro.
And Ievgeniia wants to tell these sorts of stories. If not you know of any connections that can help her find resources for her filmmaking.
And you can also be a part of these stories by contributing. It really helps.
Via Debit, Credit, or Paypal: At this link
Via Venmo: @UnitedUkraine (under the business tab)
Our Website:
http://www.united-ukraine.org
And we accept checks via mail at:
225 Bright Poppy
Irvine, CA 92618
Another partner, who we’ve mentioned before, Kseniia Krasnova was involved in a campaign with United Ukraine which raised over $20,000 to buy rare medical supplies (and were routed through Adam’s house). She’s also a dancer, actress and filmmaker. Before the invasion she was leading a troupe of dancers in a project supported by Ukraine’s cultural ministry. Of course since the war started, funding has disappeared and the dance troupe has been spread all over Ukraine. Kseniia’s dream is to reunite the dancers in a country near Ukraine and create an dance of expression of gratitude to earth and to home. Any of you out there with connections to arts foundations, we’d love to hear from you on how Kseniia’s dreams could become reality.
So the war involves all sorts of needs on all sorts of levels. Adam and I will continue to do what we do. Outreach to families and support of grassroots communities. But United Ukraine is not just us, it’s all the people that read this, donate, take part and share. The war presents all sorts of human problems technical, economic, artistic and emotional. Different members of out community can contribute in different ways but we are all united.