French artist JR presented a new work in Ukraine as part of his global project Inside Out. This is his collaboration with the French association Ukraine CombArt, which supports Ukrainian initiatives — the collaborative installation is dedicated to the workers of the Kyiv Psychiatric Hospital named after Pavlov
In a commentary for DTF Magazine, French-Ukrainian director and president of Ukraine CombArt Artem Yurchenko said that the project aims to raise international awareness of the psychological consequences of a full-scale war in Ukraine, as well as to ‘draw attention to the rehabilitation needs of Ukrainians and the needs of medical institutions, in particular the needs of the Hospital named after Pavlov’, and to highlight the importance of social integration of affected Ukrainians.
They took portrait photos of 150 employees of the hospital: photos not only of doctors, but also of nurses, cleaners, cafeteria workers and administrators. Photos of those who ‘chose to treat people at any cost in these difficult times’.
‘Each of the 150 people who took part in the project has a story to tell, they are often anxious but very human and have expressed unconditional support for the initiative, — Artem says. — The hospital employs about 1500 people, each of them performs an important function and remains despite the war and fatigue. While creating the project, I realized that this hospital is a real living organism that functions, develops and, most importantly, helps thousands of people’.
Through the initiative, the team wants to draw attention to certain problems in the Ukrainian medical sphere and find funding to modernize certain departments of the Hospital named after Pavlov and psychological support programs.
According to Yurchenko, in the future the project with portraits of medical workers of the Hospital named after Pavlov is also planned to be presented ‘on the facade of one of the largest hospitals in Paris’, the name of which is not disclosed yet.
About JR’s global project called Inside Out
JR launched the Inside Out project in 2010. According to the artist’s idea, photographers from all over the world could send him their works and get support — from advice on ideas to money for their implementation.
Inside Out photo series are usually displayed in a collage format of black and white portraits in public spaces. The Inside Out project has been described as ‘a platform that helps communities to stand up for what they believe in and spark global change locally’. In total, more than 500,000 people from more than 150 countries and territories have participated in the project since its inception.
In June 2023, JR’s first solo exhibition in Ukraine opened at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv. Besides a series of his lithographs, the art center also presented the Inside Out participatory project called Photobooth: Inside Out Kyiv: We are here.
JR’s exhibition occupied two floors of the art space. On the second floor there was a series of lithographs giving an enticing view into the works and practices of the artist, and on the third floor there was the Inside Out project, the message of which in Ukraine is ‘We are here’. Visitors to the exhibition could also take part in the project.
We told you more about the Kyiv exhibition by JR in our article.
