West Berkshire exhibition showcases work of Ukrainian artists
Three artists from Ukraine who now live in the Newbury area are displaying their work to mark the first anniversary of the war
Last updated 23rd Feb 2023
Three women from Ukraine who now live in west Berkshire are showcasing their art at an exhibition called War.Art.Hope at the West Berkshire Museum.
Nadia, Natalia and Liudmyla fled the Russian bombing to seek safety in the UK and continue their creativity.
Liudmyla was a successful art doll maker and is displaying one of her creations at the exhibition.
As she sat in the basement of her home near Kyiv in the first few days of the war she said she had to make a life changing decision:
"When the bombs were falling near our house it was very loud and I realised I need to save my children. It was difficult to find petrol, but I did I took my children and we drove for three days"
Liudmyla and her children made it to the border and after being taken in by "strangers' eventually arrived in Hungary where Liudmyla had a friend to help them.
She says she's happy to be living in west Berkshire:
"I live with absolutely beautiful beautiful family, I love this family, the woman is like my sister. My children go to school and they make the atmosphere in school very kind, because my children couldn't speak English and now my daughter speaks it better than me (laughs)"
Nadia was a music teacher in Ukraine and now sells her art to send money to support the Ukrainian Army something she describes as joining in the fight "in my own way".
She's also written and illustrated a children's book:
"I write ten poems about the war in Ukraine but without blood, without death, without destroy (sic), but I make a little Goose with a brave personality who tells the kids about the war."
The exhibition is on at the West Berkshire Museum until 26 March and is an opportunity to find out more about some of the two hundred or so visitors from Ukraine now living in the Newbury area.