UNBROKEN UKRAINE
BY
SVITLANA ONIPKO
&
FELIPE JACOME
Russia´s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, constitutes one of the largest conventional wars since World War II. The level of destruction across Ukraine is unfathomable with several cities and towns being reduced to rubble. The fighting has also unleashed the largest refugee crisis in the world with over 8 million people being displaced inside Ukraine and 7 million fleeing the country.
The Unbroken Project is the result of an artistic collaboration between Felipe Jácome (photographer) and Svetlana Onipko (photographer and dancer of the Ukrainian National Ballet). The artists met 2 years before the war during a photoshoot in Kyiv and connected over their love for photography.
For this project, the artists transfer images of Ukrainian ballerinas displaced by the conflict onto bullet casings. The strength, determination, and beauty of the dancers is juxtaposed with the senseless violence, brutality, and destruction inflicted by the bullets.
The photos of the ballerinas are printed directly onto panels of bullet casings using a UV printer.
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All profits generated from the sale of the photographs of the Unbroken project will be donated for relief and recovery efforts in Ukraine.
In November 2022, the Unbroken Project begun a traveling exhibition through European capitals to continue to highlight the struggle of Ukraine.
From November 2022 to January 2023, Unbroken was installed in the streets of Paris, France in a commercial street in the Marais neighborhood of Paris. The installation was visited by thousands of people every day. The installation was carried out in collaboration with the Embassy of Ecuador in France.
In February 2023, the installation traveled to Madrid, Spain where it is exhibited at the Casa de América museum until July 2023.
The `Unbroken Project´ art installation was inaugurated on April 24, 2023, in front of the National Opera of Ukraine in the center of Kyiv.
The installation of the Unbroken Project in Kyiv was carried out in collaboration with the National Opera House of Ukraine and with Sunflower Network, a US-based charity delivering vital supplies to the communities most affected by the war in Ukraine.
SVITLANA ONIPKO
1995, Ukraine
Svetlana Onipko is a photographer and a classical dancer with the Ukraine National Opera. She studied for 9 years in the Kiev Choreography School before being accepted in the National Opera. She has danced with the National Opera in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Japan, and Taiwan. In 2018, inspired by her travels, she began her career as a portrait photographer shooting solely on film.
FELIPE JÁCOME
1985, Ecuador
Felipe Jácome is a photographer born in Ecuador. After finishing his studies at the London School of Economics, his work has focused on issues of human mobility and human rights. In 2010 he won the Young Reporter Competition of the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Jacome’s photoshave appeared in publications such as Foreign Policy Magazine, The Guardian, Vice Magazine, CNN Photo Blog and the Miami Herald. Jacome’s work has also been exhibited in London, Amsterdam, Beirut, Geneva, Amsterdam, Quito, and Washington DC.
A special thank you to the ballet artists that participated in the project:
Anastasiia Bilokon
Vlada Shevchenko
Diana Stetsenko
Nika Afonina
Anna Schmatchenko
Masha Samara
Alyona Kapustyan
Daria Stratovych
Anastasia Gurskaya
Daria Stratovych
Evelina Chapskaia
Ilona Kravchenko
Kateryna Chupina
Yuliia Moskalenko