Art Project "Behind The Smile: The Hidden Layers of Ukrainian Medics Realities"
CF Repower, in collaboration with the creative agency banda, presented the art project Behind The Smile: The Hidden Layers of Ukrainian Medics Realities, which is currently on display at the Swedish Artipelag museum until January 5, 2024. The project reveals the hidden psychological trauma and internal struggle of Ukrainian military medics, and once again drew the attention of the international community to Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
In Ukraine, military medics experience the same intense stress as soldiers, but they have to stay calm and keep smiling. A medic’s smile and confidence are critically important – they give the soldier faith that they will be saved, that they will do everything possible to ensure his survival. Every smile, every encouraging word can be crucial for the psychological state of a soldier who needs not only physical help, but also moral support. Forced to constantly hide their emotions, military medics experience serious mental health problems. To draw attention to this painful problem and show the inner world of those who save lives during war, together with the creative agency banda, we created the project Behind The Smile: The Hidden Layers of Ukrainian Medics Realities – a portrait of Iryna “Cheka” Tsybukh, a combat medic and a participant in the Repower project.
The genesis of X-ray photography can be traced back to an accidental discovery in 1895, when German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered what he called “X-rays.” Röntgen’s experiments with a cathode ray tube revealed a mysterious form of radiation that could penetrate solid objects. Since then, we have been able to peer inside the human body without surgery. The slightest injury or pathology can now be easily detected and treated by doctors. But how do we see what is happening to our souls, torn apart by the brutality of war? What is happening to our mental health from the constant pain of loss?
The portrait has four hidden layers, each depicting stories from Iryna’s personal combat experience, and becoming a step into the unknown, into the world of her psychological trauma, loss, and experiences. Artist Maksym Skalatsky has recreated these memories from Iryna’s words in visual images. Now they can only be viewed with the help of professional equipment, such as an X-ray machine.
On the top layer of the portrait, Iryna smiles, but behind this smile lies a deep secret. The first hidden layer contains a memory from Zeleny Pole, where Iryna realized that war as a tragedy touches every living being. The second layer reveals a memory from St. Michael’s Cathedral, when she realized the harsh reality of war and decided to take up arms. The third layer tells the story of Myroslav from Serebryansky Forest, a future father, seriously wounded in battle, but determined to live. The fourth layer depicts a memory from Selydove, where love and death intersected in the story of a fallen Ukrainian soldier.
The project allows art to penetrate the surface and lead us into a space that would otherwise be hidden, offering a unique perspective on the invisible layers of trauma that hide behind a smile, honoring the resilience and courage of Ukrainian medical workers.
This exhibition was created by the Repower Foundation with the support of ISAR Unity within the framework of the project “Sectoral Support Initiative for Civil Society of Ukraine”, implemented by ISAR Unity in consortium with the Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Studies (UNCPS) and the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) thanks to the sincere support of the American people provided through the United States Agency for International Development. The content of the press release does not necessarily reflect the views of ISAR Unity, the views of the United States Agency for International Development, or the United States Government.
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