Ukrainian Displacement

How does it feel to lose your home in one day? To pack as much as you can in one suitcase and travel over borders to an unknown place? This digital exhibit, Ukrainian Displacement, explores the trauma four Ukrainian citizens must face upon Russia's unexpected invasion. Specifically, it explores the psychological pain of abandoning their homes overnight. As hometowns turn into headlines, their testimonies share the heart-breaking reality of forced displacement.

The featured testimonies come from a variety of different Ukrainian lifestyles all over the country. From various regions, genders, and age groups to even marital status. Instead of just focusing on the traumas of war, these individuals recount their experiences navigating new lives and adapting through grief and fear. The exhibit focuses on first-hand, personal experiences. For every testimony, there is a paired caption to summarize the main details of the story, highlighting important details missed in media outlets. This digital experience opposes how the media covers displacement news, being through statistics. Instead, this site shares individual troubles and psychological trauma you could never get from data and numbers.

Through the voices of these war victims, we witness familial troubles, decisions made under stress, and the mental pain of leaving not only your home but your childhood and history behind. These stories make us understand what our homes truly mean to us, whether it could mean safety and connection to culture and family, or several various emotions. As individuals in the testimonies reflect on material items that have been destroyed or lost, what is it that you'd carry with you if you had to leave? What would be something you can't live without? What is the meaning of home to you?

This digital exhibit cannot alleviate all the trauma associated with it, but it does aim to protect the human truth of displacement by prioritizing Ukrainian voices and their real, heartbreaking stories. This is an invitation to read attentively and to endure discomfort and pain while reading these stories. This transforms this exhibit into more than just an archive, but as a way to remember and as an act of resistance.

Testimony 1380

Testimony 1380 focuses on a male, Ukrainian farmer who had to flee his home because of the war. The severing of him from his land not only destroys his connection to his home, but also his traditions and livelihood. This story is significant because it reveals how forced displacement not only ruins material items but also ruins a way of life and routine.

Testimony 1606

Testimony 1606 offers a deeply personal story about a middle-aged woman who returns to her ruined home after being displaced by the war. She fights between having the perspective of witness or victim as she finds dead soldiers in her home and mourns the safety she once felt in that same place. This testimony highlights both the trauma and psychological distress of being forcibly removed from home and returning to the same home in ruins.

Testimony 1597

Testimony 1597 focuses on a grandmother fleeing with her daughter and grandson due to the war. The story centers on multigenerational displacement and trauma, while making significant references to the Holodomor for historical resonance. Her experiences highlight what it is like to face repeated forced displacements, and the psychological endurance one must have to survive it.

Testimony 1574

Testimony 1574 describes a young female perspective, as she battles the reality of forcibly moving to another country, and her family being ripped apart in different directions. As the daughter of a soldier, this story highlights how family and identity become damaged as the family debate fleeing and become separated. Despite the traumatic experiences, she persists with hope, contributing durability and persistence to the digital exhibit.