The unspeakable tragedy of Ukraine's stolen children

It's been 634 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children have been abducted and deported to Russia and Belarus, told their parents have abandoned them, forced to speak Russian, subjected to illegal adoptions and brainwashed. The end game of this systematic policy is the eradication of their national identity and, ultimately, their 'russification'.

Listening to my favourite podcast this morning, I learned that a man called Mykola Kuleba has been awarded the 2023 Magnitsky Award for Outstanding Human Rights Activist prize. Kuleba heads up an organisation called Save Ukraine whose aim is to reunite these children with their families and carers. According to their website, 19,456 children have been identified, 211 saved and returned to their loved ones.

The world is ablaze with so much hatred, violence and destruction. It is all hard to process and impossible to comprehend. The feeling of helplessness is overwhelming, so I sit here and write a worthless blog post. As if it made any difference at all.

#ukraine #saveukraine #savethechildren #mariaprymachenko #blog #beyondthecanvasblog

Maria Prymachenko (1909-1997)

A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace, 1982

© Prymachenko family foundation

Who poses a bigger threat to society?

Catching up on the news from my 2nd hometown of London, I feel compelled to go off on a rant. It appears that the people threatening the sacred values of Armistice Day are not the 300,000 citizens demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, but rather those representatives of the Far Right who have descended on the city heading to the Cenotaph shouting 'England 'til I die' (whatever that means in their little EDL heads). Emboldened by the inflammatory claims made by the Home Secretary earlier this week, where she effectively questioned the MET police's choice to allow the march to go ahead accusing them of playing favourites with pro-Palestine supporters, these yobs are the ones clashing with law enforcement and wreaking havoc.

Just as a reminder, said Home Secretary is facing legal action for forcing through a new anti-protest legislation that has been labelled "unlawful" by human rights campaigners. In recent days, Tory politicians and client journalists have been going out of their way to condemn those standing up for peace, accusing them of disrespectfully highjacking Armistice day. The last time I checked, that is the day that commemorates the agreement that led to the end of WWI.

Make no mistake, the greatest threat to British society is the current Tory Government.

F*ck you Sue-Ellen Braverman (yes, your parents named you after a trashy TV show character), you hate-inciting, hatred-spewing, dog-whistling, vile piece of sh*t. F*CK.YOU.

#peace #ceasefirenow #henricartierbresson #photography #blackandwhite #fuckthetories #blog #beyondthecanvasblog

Henri Cartier-Bresson

"Peace demonstration", 1945

© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

Maestras at National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

It was 1976 when the first international exhibition by female artists took place. Curated by Ann Sutherland Harris and Linda Nochlin of "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" fame, 'Women Artists: 1550-1950' featured works by 83 artists from 12 countries and toured 3 major American museums.

Forty-seven years later, along comes the Thyssen in Madrid claiming their show is addressing the historical erasure of female artists from art history and that it's a 'culmination of feminist conscience'. Oh really? And, of course, it's a group exhibition because, hey, they are all women after all. Maestras sees almost 100 mostly very good works (some, like the Valadon, are truly exceptional) bundled up in genres, historical periods and themes because why on earth would you provide proper individual context.

I really wanted to like this show, but it fails to hit the mark perpetuating old clichés. For example, in the New Portrayals of Motherhood room all we see are images of mothers tenderly caring for their babies or small children. How's that supposed to create a counternarrative to the meek and passive angel of the house?

I take issue with all-women-artists exhibitions as they do nothing to challenge the canon and increase the artists' ghettoisation (?) leaving them stuck in an eternal sub-category. And, of course, Pollock is right when she claims that this merely archival approach needs to be supported by socio-historical contextualization. In short, do better.

#femaleartists #thyssenbornemitsza #maestras #madrid #artblog #beyondthecanvasblog