In the Face of War: Ukraine 2022

When, in February 2022, ISOLARII began publishing The War Diary of Yevgenia Belorusets as a daily newsletter, the need seemed simple: tell the news in Ukraine from a different vantage. The field of war was one of golden grain beneath an electric blue sky-a potent symbol, but painted in broad strokes. From Yevgenia's vantage, one sees the details: what it feels like to live in Kyiv and interact with the strangers who suddenly become your "countrymen;" the struggle to make sense of a good mood on a spring day; the instinctive aversion to being suddenly in the category of "civilians." The diary had a worldwide impact: translated by an anonymous collective of writers on Weibo; read live by Margaret Atwood; used as a slogan for anti-war protests in Berlin; and adapted for an episode of This American Life on NPR.Yevgenia was asked to bring the diary to the 2022 Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom." In partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine, the exhibition shows Yevgenia's writing alongside the monumental and emotional art of Nikita Kadan and Lesia Khomenko--all of whom continue to work in wartime Ukraine. IN THE FACE OF WAR is the official catalog to the exhibition-contextualizing the work of these three young artists in the tradition of Ukrainian culture. It provides a lucid answer to an age-old question: what is art to do in the face of war?