Angels of Ukraine exhibition on display at Newbury Town Hall this weekend
An exhibition honouring the Ukrainian children killed since the Russian invasion has been unveiled in Newbury, writes Manya Mishra.
The Angels of Ukraine memorial is hanging on the outside of the town hall until Monday (July 17), when it will continue its international journey and move to Portugal.
Ukrainians who came to Newbury under the Government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme held a moving ceremony on Wednesday (July 13), when the crocheted angels were unveiled as traditional Ukrainian music was played.
“This is very important for me” local organiser Nataliia Buhrii-Shramko added. “The more I help to get this around, I feel like I contributed as well, even being not in Ukraine.”
The exhibit features yellow and blue ‘angels’ — each handmade by Ukrainian women — representing a child who has been killed in the conflict since Russia invaded in February last year.
The exhibit was begun by Ukrainian women, Svitlana Peshterianu and Natasha Mitso, in Slovakia, where they had moved.
They then decided to take it around Europe and now, since the memorial first was shown in Slovakia in 2022, it has since toured other cities in Cyprus, Germany and the UK.
“Each of us has the right to live in peace, without evil and violence, and to calmly raise our children, putting into their hearts only goodness, light and respect for human life, love for people and the world in which they live,” they said.
“Our goal is to show people all over the world how cruel and senseless war is.”
The number of angels directly correlates to the number of children known to have been killed in the conflict – now at a devastating 494 angels.
“When you see so many [angels], you can see what a disaster it is,” Ms Buhrii-Shramko added.
“This number is the number we know... where we can count. But what is going on in territories which are occupied, we don’t know.”
The exhibit will remain at Newbury Town Hall until Monday, July 17, after which it will travel to Portugal and other countries around the world.
“I want people to know and realise what is going on and why we need to support Ukraine [as] we have a very dangerous enemy,” Ms Buhrii-Shramko.
“We thank the residents of Newbury for making it possible to hold this exhibition in memory of the ‘Angels of Ukraine’, in particular Newbury Town Council for hosting the exhibition and EJM Tree Services for helping us to install it.”
She added special thanks to Gillian Durant and Martin Kavanagh – from the Newbury Town Council – for their support and help in setting up the event and the installers of the work, Volodmyr Goncharov and Pavel.
Ms Buhrii-Shramko moved to the UK with her son and friend in August 2022, and says that Newbury has been extremely supportive and welcoming to her.
“It’s difficult emotionally that you left your country and you’re not there, and for me, it’s very important to know that I still [did] something and I [contributed],” she said.
“We are not just strangers. We are people who speak different mother tongues and people from different cultures. But from [the first day]… the way that [Nataliia’s host family] welcomed us made me feel like I am with my family who live in UK.”
The event was also celebrated with Ukrainian musicians – Volodymyr Vasylenko, an accordionist, and Lala, a singer – who came from Winchester.
This exhibition is not the first one in the UK – and is following the display that Svitlana Dzedzei, a Ukrainian refugee and artist in Shrewsbury had organised.