Victor Pinchuk Foundation opened the Deciding Your Tomorrow exhibition on the occasion of WEF

16 Jan 2024 (Davos, Switzerland) - Victor Pinchuk Foundation and the PinchukArtCentre in cooperation with the Office of the President of Ukraine, have opened the Deciding Your Tomorrow exhibition on the occasion of the World Economic Forum 2024 (WEF 2024) in Davos. The Deciding Your Tomorrow project is an immersive visual and intellectual experience, and space for discussion and debate. Four contemporary Ukrainian artists depict Ukraine through a series of compelling video portraits and stories. The exhibition portrays Ukrainians as they defend freedom, endure losses, and achieve victories. Amid constant threat, it showcases people definitely living their lives.

Among the speakers of the opening were: Andrzej Duda, the President of the Republic of Poland; Victor Pinchuk, Founder of EastOne group, Founder of Victor Pinchuk Foundation; Oleksandra Mezheva, 8-year old child deported from Mariupol City; Oleksandr Batalov, Gunner-medic, Armed Forces of Ukraine. The ceremony was moderated by Bjorn Geldhof, Artistic Director of PinchukArtCentre.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also attended the exhibition and held a bilateral meeting with President of Poland Andrzej Duda on the sidelines of the Deciding Your Tomorrow project.

Inaugurating the project, Victor Pinchuk invited the visitors to understand the urgency of providing Ukraine with more assistance: “Ukrainians are fighting for independence, but also fighting for your freedom, your future and your values. Many people only understand this on a theoretical level, they do not feel the real-life impact of war. This is quite an issue.”

“We hope this exhibition will help western leaders understand the need to move from beautiful wise statements to decisive, ugly and bold action. Ukrainians die every day and every minute and the clock is ticking. You don’t have much time to supply weapons to us - don’t leave it too late. Ukrainians will never give up, but it will be much harder to achieve this later,” he added.

Andrzej Duda stressed the importance of holding Russia accountable for the war crimes it committed in Ukraine: “There have already been 691 days of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. It also marks 691 days of calls for the perpetrators of these crimes to be held accountable internationally. It is important to make sure that prosecution of those crimes is effective and to show the rest of the world that anyone committing such crimes will be prosecuted and held accountable for what they did.”

“Let me assure you that Poland has and always will stand at the side of Ukraine. I mean this not only in the sense that we’ll be standing by Ukraine defending and supporting its effort of repelling the Russian invader and deeply believing that Ukraine will prevail. I also believe that Poland will stay at the side of Ukraine, that it is and will continue to be free, independent and an everlasting state,” Duda concluded.

Oleksandr Batalov called for more weapons to Ukraine: “Until we deliver a mighty blow to the Russian Empire, until we put an end to the terrorism, we will not be able to sleep in peace. We’ll know that they can come after you anywhere in the world. And you will eventually understand this.” 

“For us to be more powerful and repel the enemy once and for all, we need weapons and the means to make one mighty blow,” he added.

The Deciding Your Tomorrow project is located at Promenade 59, Davos, a complementary event hosted on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, in a space shared with Ukraine House Davos.

Photos are available here

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