Ukrainian Artists' Message to Russia: 'Our Fire is Stronger than Your Bombs'

Yenia Polusina and Anna Ivanenko, two Ukrainian artists, decided to use their creativity to repel Russia's invasion after witnessing Russian missiles landing on their homeland. They, along with other artists who spent the early days of the war in Kyiv in makeshift shelters, sometimes without water or electricity, began designing. According to the Associated Press, some of their war posters are now on display in New Hampshire, USA. In this exhibition titled 'Our Fire is Stronger than Your Bombs,' one of Ivanenko's posters depicts children studying in a shelter, while another illustrates Ukrainians fleeing their country immediately after the war began. Polusina's paintings pay tribute to a female gymnast and a young mathematician who were killed in Russian missile attacks. Anna Ivanenko, from her studio in Kyiv, which she shares with Yenia Polusina, told the Associated Press, 'We realized that this work is a good remedy for preventing fear and anxiety and for gaining calmness. As a result, we started designing.' Polusina and Ivanenko are among eight artists whose 20 war-related posters have been on display since Monday at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. These posters were previously exhibited at Dartmouth College and can still be viewed as part of a digital exhibition. The exhibition 'Our Fire is Stronger than Your Bombs' is the idea of Veronika Yadukha and Hanna Lelyu, Ukrainian translators who fled their country and arrived in the United States in September. Both are currently continuing their studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and felt that an exhibition of war posters related to the first year of Russia's invasion of Ukraine might be a way to overcome American public fatigue regarding this prolonged conflict. On the opening day of the exhibition, Yadukha told the Associated Press, 'People get tired of these horrific events and news very quickly. Usually, when we see a photo or video, our minds block all the stressful information.' They thought these designs could play a role as a kind of secondary media, bridging the gap between the real scenes of war and the message they want to convey.