Students from RGU organise events to support victims of Ukraine

The digital show opens on Wednesday 9 March and is being led by a team of students from Gray’s School of Art who are making posters, drawings, paintings and digital collages in response to recent events. All the works will be displayed on a newly established Instagram site, rgu_with_ukraine, specially set up by the students.

One of the student’s exhibiting, is Gray’s School of Art alumna, Veronica Petukhov, who graduated in Contemporary Art Practice last summer.

Veronica, who lives in Edinburgh and has Ukrainian heritage explains why she’s got involved: “My parents fled the Soviet Union to provide a better future for me in Italy, where I was born and raised, but the rest of my family is in Ukraine at this moment and time. They are currently in our hometown Odessa, hiding in their flats and basements. Some have managed to leave for their summer homes outside the big cities. As much as my passport may be Italian, my blood is 100% Ukrainian.

“I speak Russian and Ukrainian at home with my parents and have never felt more connected to my people and country. I felt I had to do something to support victims of the current crisis and hope this exhibition will offer some support to them.”

A 2nd year Gray’s School of Art Communication Design student, who is helping to organise the exhibition but doesn’t wish to be named, explains why she’s got involved: “The idea for the exhibition came up because I was absolutely shocked by the unimaginably terrible situation in Ukraine. I felt so helpless on my own – donating money and items for the refugees did not seem like enough.

“For the last two years we have been taught that as art students, we must become socially conscious and engaged designers who are empathetic, responsible and want to make a change. In the first year we explored the idea that designers are equipped with a very special set of skills and that they must utilise them in a better way than just designing ‘stuff’ – they must be put towards a greater good.  I realised that it was time to put all that theory into practice and that’s what led to the idea of the exhibition. There are now 8 of us working on the event and I really hope as many people visit as possible.”

A team of students are also hosting a discussion panel on Wednesday 9 March at 1.30pm via Zoom (Meeting ID: 896 0190 4233 Passcode: 597137). Guests will include two recent graduates from RGU - Gray's alumna Veronica Petukhov, and also a Gray's alumna who lives in the Russian Federation.​

The panel will also include Irina McLean, of the People's Consulate of Belarus based in Edinburgh, and Moldovan journalist Paula Erizanu, who has written for the Guardian and Calvert Journal. The panel, chaired by Dr Jon Blackwood, Research Lead at Gray’s, will talk through the origins and development of the crisis and feature personal reflections, the impacts of the conflict on the world of art and culture, and the effects felt in neighbouring countries.

Head of Gray’s School of Art, Libby Curtis said: “These events are being organised and led by students from Grays who want to offer their support to anyone affected by the Ukraine crisis.

“The arts and culture represent one of the few areas in our society where people can come together to share their experiences and to offer support to one another.”

RGU has also launched an Emergency Financial Support Fund for any student affected by the crisis and is signposting students to the University Counselling and Support Service which includes trained counselling and wellbeing staff.

Image shows digital art by Gray’s alumna, Veronica Petukhov