INTERVIEW | How does an exhibition come into being?

Wim, where did the idea for an exhibition on Ukrainian photography come from?
Plans were already in place for a fruitful collaboration with the Akerk, but then we spoke to Dirk-Jan Visser, one of our partners. He told us about The Information Front (TIF), a newspaper full of images of the war in Ukraine. Couldn’t we do something with this? I found the work very impressive and resolved to do some research. This was around May/June this year. I discovered more about Ukraine’s rich photographic history and how underexposed it still is in the West, especially as Ukraine is now primarily associated with the current war. Together with the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken, we decided: we have to do something with this.

How did you get in touch with Ukrainian curator Kateryna Radchenko?
TIF was born out of a collaboration between Kateryna Radchenko, Christopher Nunn and Donald Weber. Donald Weber works as a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where Visser also works. He put me in touch with Kateryna, director and curator of the international Ukrainian photography festival Odesa Photo Days, which unfortunately couldn’t take place this year due to the war. TIF is one of the activities they now support, to create a platform for journalistic and documentary photography. A platform that financially supports besieged Ukrainian photographers and gives them a stage.

The newspaper shows the first two months of the war as we know it, but of course there was much more prior to this. So, I discussed this with Kateryna. How could we show ‘more’ of Ukraine than just this war?

Can you give an example of that ‘more’?
For example, propaganda and censorship. In Soviet Ukraine, images of reality (uncensored) were and still are mostly forbidden. Image makers therefore tried to push the boundaries to find ways to still be able to tell their stories. They played with colours, for instance, to smuggle images of reality past the censor. So these images tell a lot about Ukraine and how the search for identity has actually been going on for a long time.

How did you proceed after that?
Kateryna and I worked together to select the photographers and the work. She was in close contact with them afterwards and did much of the in-depth writing to accompany the works. I did the spatial design and coordinated the production. This includes making detailed drawings of the different levels and views, with the exact measurements of the walls and works. Some photographers have very specific wishes on how their works should be presented, e.g. format, colour, framed or not (and the colour of the) mount, the arrangement of the works, and so forth. I create my own design proposal, taking any requirements into account. And to do this, I sometimes also use 3D models to best assess the overall look of the space.

How did you arrive at the final selection of photographs?
Essential in this was the variety and combination of documentary, journalistic and artistic photography. We felt it was important in this exhibition that the varied work accurately reflected the different eras of Ukraine’s history, but we also wanted to showcase both old and new Ukrainian image makers. We looked at and discussed the work of many photographers. And, specifically for this exhibition, we chose to select and approach everyone personally instead of through an open call.

So, there is a division between works by old and new Ukrainian photographers. Yet in the Akerk there also seems to be a timeline that you can follow. Can you tell a bit more about that?
Early on we were inspired to set the exhibition in a timeline with different periods. So, this became an important starting point for the spatial design. The walking route in the Akerk starts from the 1970s and ends in the present. During the 1970s, Ukraine began to form its own photographic identity. By showing what has transpired in Ukraine over time, the images can help to understand what the current war means and that it has actually been going on for eight years. But they also show other perspectives on the country.

The Information Front was available to read at the Akerk, and there will also be a sequel. When can we read that?
Part two is indeed currently in the making. This won’t be a newspaper, but a book/magazine to accompany this exhibition. With the proceeds from ticket sales at the Akerk, we can cover a small part of the production costs and compensate the Ukrainian photographers. The rest of the proceeds and all income from the publication will be donated to 2402 Fund and The Depths of Arts Fund, so that we can support artists and journalists in Ukraine.