1534 Days
Rafał Milach
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, over 28 million refugees—mostly women and children—crossed the border into Poland, which had become a central transportation hub for Ukrainians fleeing the war. Of these, over 4.5 million have returned to the liberated territories. For 1,534 days, Ukraine has been defending its territory, and the cycle of migration, re-emigration, and internal displacement continues unabated. Russia’s information warfare aims to undermine European solidarity with Ukraine and distort the image of the ongoing conflict. In response to widespread disinformation campaigns, the exhibition foregrounds personal testimonies that challenge attempts to distort recent history by grounding the war in lived experience. They compress the war into a private space, where Ukrainian refugees reveal their traumatic experiences of war. Please take at least one testimony with you and read it at home.
The installation recreates a domestic space. Wallpapers, images of Ukrainian landscapes and destroyed architecture, and video testimonies coexist in a fragile balance between what is visible and what remains hidden. Beneath the surface of the walls, traces of the war appear intermittently, echoing the way violence and loss permeate everyday life without ever fully disappearing. At the center of the exhibition, a block of printed testimonies invites visitors to take one text with them. This gesture extends the exhibition beyond the museum space and into the visitor’s own home, transforming public history into a personal encounter. Reading becomes an act of attention, responsibility, and care.
The testimonies, collected in Ukraine and Poland between 2022 and 2024, are part of the “Uatlas. War Migration Record” resource. Authors: Olena Tkachenko, Kateryna Drobovik, Mika Nechiporenko, Agnieszka Rodowicz, Mykhailo Palinchak, Karolina Gembara
Year of production: 2026
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
