In the Face Of War

by Yevgenia Belorusets (Contributor), Nikita Kadan, Lesia Khomenko

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?

Genres: Nonfiction, Ukraine, History, Art

448 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

READING VLOG

All During War:

A gallery open for a single day, for a friend. A man opening a cafe because he feels there is nothing left to do, only to realize it’s his birthday. Raids, residents unmoving, in their best interest to save people, pets.

840 dead children. The number rose. Rises. It’s still rising. So many futures now pasts. So many meanings flustered with menacing meaninglessness.

There is a moment in the diary where Yevgenia says that when she goes out in search for a single cup of coffee, she is met with an immense joy, a contentment far beyond anything I know. To want something before need amidst mass genocide.

I’ve never read anything so close to reality, so close to human. This is real life. This is happening now. This isn’t turned fiction, flashy shots, nor played back with dramatic music to hold tension.

This is a diary.

“I quickly become the hostage of my own diary,” she accounts as she believed it would go on for a few days, not months and months.

Now and still, in September, countless innocent lives are reaped from a place that means no harm in the long run of the world.

Yevgenia assures us that though ongoing horrors affect the motherland, that she tries and tries to find the little joys she can. Flowers. Coffee. Small talk with older folks. Strangers. Who know become neighborly, because they are a people surviving together. They are a single body, a shared soul.

Looking at my own life, there is much to be grateful for. That there are people to love and splendor in time that feels much like time.

Fuck Russia. Raise sanctions. Speak up. Speak loud. It’s 2022. Why does genocide still exist? For every single person that runs their mouth about how awful A Little Life is, can you take that same passion and voice it about the war in Ukraine?

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I can’t close my eyes, can’t find peace. That’s what I want to describe to you. Tomorrow morning I will read this text again. If I do, it will mean that we survived the night."

This started as a daily online diary of the war in Ukraine, chronicled by Belorusets from her home in Kyiv where she and her family lived. It covers the first 41 days of the war and has been paired with Ukrainian artists' works which don't come across too poorly given the small format isolarii employs. She deftly captures a kind of early cognitive dissonance as the horrors of war hover around the periphery of trying to find some normalcy in day-to-day life. Disbelief and confusion slowly give way to fear and rage. She is keenly aware of the danger her photography practice poses as Russian forces have used social media posts and Tiktok videos to coordinate military strikes, and her fellow citizens wonder if she's a spy.

It seems somewhat ironic that I finished reading this on Independence Day in America (celebrated every 4th of July). It is now day 139 of the war.

[David Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this was just Beloruset's journal of life for the first 41 days of the invasion of Ukraine, it would be a perfect book. But this book was also part of an art exhibit so has essays and selections of art by others. This is not bad, but it slightly blunts the power of her journal. It took me a while to read it because it was just so true and powerful. It's worth reading.

[Kaitlyn]

A powerful diary intermixed with the author’s photos following the first 40 days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The mix of photos helped capture moments of trying to hold onto normalcy and community in the midst of war.

[Eero · Rating 5 out of 5]

haunting, ever-present nightmare. Written honestly, giving perspective into the shock and horror of a mind grasping with the realization of sudden war.