What Would You Take? Exhibition closing event
Date and time:
Wednesday 18 October, 2023
18:00 - 20:00
Location:
Europe House
32 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3EU
The photography exhibition What Would You Take? tells 12 extraordinary stories of Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes due to Russia’s war, and the cherished items they took with them. Join us at Europe House for the exhibition’s closing event, featuring the screening of the documentary What Would You Take? (23 min, 2023), directed by Heilika Pikkov, a conversation with the exhibition’s curator Kaupo Kikkas and musical performance by Nataliia Radkova, violinist from Donetsk whose powerful story features in the exhibition. The event will be followed by a drinks reception.
The event is co-organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK and the Ukrainian Institute London, in partnership with the Estonian Embassy.
Speaker
Kaupo Kikkas
Kaupo Kikkas is an Estonian visual artist and photographer whose body of work often contains recurrent themes of nature and music. His portraiture is described as capturing his subjects with the same melodic and sensitive perspective. His recent exhibition Inner Cosmos premiered in 2022 at the Fotografiska Institute in Tallinn, attracting over 25 000 visitors. His other recent and internationally recognized exhibitions have included Treescape (2016), Ansel (2018), and the multidisciplinary sculpture Sphere-20 (2021). A number of his photographic collections have been published as books, including Ansel (2018), The Story of One Hundred (2018) and Inner Cosmos (2022).
Speaker
Nataliia Radkova
Nataliia Radkova studied at music college in Donetsk, until Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014, during her second year. She then transferred to continue her studies at the Kharkiv College of Music, separated from her family. Having completed her bachelor's degree in Kharkiv, she entered the Kyiv National Music Academy of Ukraine. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nataliia left Kyiv, and now lives with her mother in Lithuania where she plays for the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In the exhibition and documentary What Would You Take, Nataliia shares her story of being forced to leave her home twice, in 2014 and 2022, but always keeping her violin and her passion for music with her.
Speaker
Olga Malchevska
Moderator
Maria Montague
Maria Montague is the Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Institute London. Over the past year she has launched the Ukrainian Institute London's English School for Displaced Ukrainians, produced the UK premiere of Lesia Ukrainka's play Cassandra, and managed a full programme of events aimed at platforming Ukrainian voices and raising awareness about Ukraine's culture, history and ongoing resistance against Russian aggression. Maria also has research and project management experience in international relations. She previously worked with the Chatham House Ukraine Forum and the LSE Arena programme, which is dedicated to analysing and overcoming polarization and disinformation.
