On November 9, more than 100 students visited the DC foyer to view a photography exhibit created by Ukrainian students at Waterloo.
The students, many of them in graduate programs, have fled their country and are finishing their degrees at Waterloo due to the disruption the war has caused. These students are among the millions of displaced Ukrainians who have sought refuge since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The exhibition was created with the purpose of showing Waterloo students photographs of the war and reminding them that it is still ongoing, despite a decrease in news coverage.
Halyna Padalko is a Ukrainian student doing an MA in Global Governance, and one of the main organizers of the exhibit. “We organize this exhibition,” she explains, “to bring awareness to the university of Waterloo’s students, staff, and faculty about the war in Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We wanted to tell them about courage and our struggle for freedom by showing pictures from the everyday life of the Ukrainian people. We showed our bombed universities, countless homeless people, volunteers who get married at the war, and the damage to our once beautiful buildings, concert venues, schools, and metro stations. We had a VR station from the GI Institute of UW to help us recreate how our cities looked before the war vs now, which shows the heartbreak and destruction”.
This exhibit spends a few weeks in each faculty’s buildings; before coming to DC it has been hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science. The exhibit is visiting the Faculty of Mathematics in the DC foyer from November 4 to November 22. The organizers chose to hold the grand opening of the exhibit on November 9, because it is Ukraine’s National Day of Writing and Language.
During the grand opening, over 100 students stopped by for a brief tour to listen to the Ukrainian students’ experiences; there was also a VR headset allowing visitors to be immersed in the destruction the war has caused. Afterwards, they enjoyed some Ukrainian treats, including chupa chups, which are Ukrainian lollipops, and halva, which is made from sunflower seeds (sunflowers are Ukraine’s national flower).
Student visitors found the photographs and accompanying information sobering. “It’s heartbreaking to hear what’s going on,” says Daniel Leung, an Engineering major. “It's nice that we have the opportunity to come and listen to this because I feel like it’s being forgotten”.
Bethany Pöltl, an Environment and Business student explains that “it was very impactful to see all the photographs from the various places in Ukraine that are under attack right now. I learned that there are many sides to the story and that so many people have been affected. We need to be engaging with this and listening to their stories, understanding what is going on and how we can support them. It's important to listen and become involved.”
“We are thankful to the Math faculty for supporting human rights and democratic values,” Halyna reflects. “We received excellent help from faculty staff and students, which contributed to the preparation and overall success of the event and exhibition itself.”
The Ukrainian photo exhibit will be on display in the DC foyer until November 22, 2022. Visit their website to learn more about the campaign or donate to war efforts.