“We left everything with just one small bag” - new exhibition gives a voice to Ukrainian refugees - video Dailymotion

'Ukrainian Stories and the Merseyside Connection' gives a voice to those displaced following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Transcript

00:00a new exhibition at liverpool central library gives a voice to ukrainian refugees who sought

00:07sanctuary in merseyside following the russian invasion of ukraine in 2022 we lived in ukraine

00:13we were happy we had plans for future we had our own property own business we were really happy

00:23i didn't plan to move to another country ever but when war began our plan changed our life changed we

00:34left everything with one small pink bag it captures the lived experiences of ukrainians who fled the war

00:41and built new lives in the liverpool city region it also highlights the vital role played by host

00:47families community volunteers and local organizations and providing welcoming support we have a community

00:55for the young ladies with the kids and just just everyone everyone who want to join us we organize

01:02some events where we can i don't know spend time together or discuss about something or just share

01:10some information in between of our community and it helped them and it helped me funded by national

01:16lottery heritage fund and developed by liverpool-based arts organization whispered tales these powerful

01:23stories will be permanently archived in the liverpool record offices digital collection preserving a vital

01:29chapter in the city's social history when i just came to uk i was thinking they called us refugees and i

01:36was like but we're not refugee why we like i couldn't understand why and then uh when esther come up with

01:44this project uh i was really touched by this because it's i think it's very important to tell that we

01:53here not because we as a as any of refugees we here not because we want to we want to live here or we

02:00we want we decided to move here we were forced to leave and that in our country unfortunately now is

02:07the war is still going and it's really bad and a lot of people in danger visitors to central library

02:14will see a display of ukrainian style apartment blocks in the main atrium a large screen built

02:19into one of the towers shows short films of ukrainians reflecting on their personal stories

02:24of displacement loss and hope as well as belonging i'm literally moved to the in the to the uk

02:32alone without any friends any parents any anyone and i was just realized that if something happened

02:39with me in the middle of the night i have no one to call even like could you help me i have no one

02:45so this kind of community it's really helpful ukrainian stories and the message connection

02:54is a free public exhibition running until wednesday 25th of june