Singapore artists hold exhibition to help Russia-Ukraine war victims

SINGAPORE visual artists are holding an anti-war exhibition and selling art to help victims of the Russia-Ukraine War.

At the home cum gallery of veteran artist Jeremy Hiah, approximately 2 dozen artists are showcasing their artworks, the sales proceeds from which will be given to Ukrainian families displaced by the conflict.

One of the artists, Shengen Lim, is married to a Ukrainian, Karyna Mordynska. They have a 3-month-old baby in Singapore. Mordynska says: "My family home in Kyiv has been destroyed and my grandfather's library containing 4,000 books collected over a lifetime has been burnt down.

"Some of my extended family members have been displaced and they're moving west away from the Russian army. Others can't move because of poor health, so they're stuck in the city. We're just thankful they're alive."

Lim created 2 artworks using iconic images from the war. One of them (above) involves the viral picture of a woman confronting an armed Russian soldier, asking him to put sunflower seeds in his pocket, so that flowers may grow when he dies on Ukrainian land. The other artwork depicts a Russian warship. Both works have Augmented Reality capabilities, linking the images to videos of the war.

Other well-known artists involved in the exhibition include Cheo Chai-Hiang, Shirley Soh, Urich Lau, Jennifer Teo, Veronyka Lau, Lina Adam, Delia Prvacki, Chen Sai Hua Kuan and Tamares Goh.

Cheo, a pioneer of modern and conceptual art in Singapore, has contributed a pair of wooden clogs with mahjong tiles attached to them, alluding to the geometry of chance and probable outcome.

Fellow conceptual artist Ray Langenbach created door hangers (below) that read: "I am responsible for the war." Selling for S$49.90 in an edition of 49, the work implicates every one of us for not doing more to stop the aggression.

Hiah, one of the exhibition organisers, has a painting of several people screaming (depicted in the manner of the screamer in Edward Munch's The Scream) as soldiers approach them.

The work was created in response to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003: The US had claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which turned out to be false. Soon after the invasion, Western oil companies set up shop in Iraq to draw on its vast oil reserves.

Hiah says: "We artists have always stood firm in the belief that war is not the answer. Since the early 2000s, we've been selling art and donating part of proceeds to victims of conflict in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar and now Ukraine.

"We've also donated money to victims of natural catastrophes such as the tsunami of 2004... We're not political. We just want to help the refugees and victims."

The works of Filipino-born artist Michael Cu Fua were among the first to sell. He created provocative circular collages with Putin's image surrounded by dead leaves, painted circles and a blob of the artist's own blood.

One of them titled A Final Blow Of Remorse And Shame (above) shows Vladimir Putin kissing a skeleton, linking the Russian president with death and destruction.

All the artworks range from S$10 to upwards of S$2,000. For S$10, Hiah will print a large anti-war message on any T-shirt, tote bag or piece of fabric you bring with you. Part of the proceeds will also be donated to the non-profit organisation Artists At Risk and artists in Myanmar.

The exhibition runs until Mar 31 at Hiah's home cum gallery on 26A Rowell Road. Call on 8225 0421 before visiting.