On April 28-30, RCDA in Montreal held a unique charity antiwar commemoration event in support of Ukraine.
In collaboration with Russian artist Victor Melamed (@oldoldanimal) – we have organized an exhibition of the portraits of civilian victims of the war. Victor Melamed, who documents the impact of war through his project “неследуетзабыватьтерминcollateraldamage” (we should not forget the term collateral damage), draws attention to the citizens of Ukraine lost their lives since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, humanizing the often neglected statistics of collateral damage. Each portrait was accompanied by a personal story – about the life of a person and the circumstances of the death. We have worked on translations of these stories and now on our website you can see all the material in 4 languages: English, French, Ukrainian and Russian. By performing this work we would like to attract the attention of people from non-Russian speaking countries that victims of war are the same people as their friends, neighbours and beloved ones. Not just a number in the statistics of collateral damage, but a real person with a unique life story.
Renowned Canadian, Ukrainian and Russian pianists based in Montreal, such as Serhiy Salov, Maria Sourjko, Quentin Bourbeau, Elizaveta Miller, Miriam Sekhon, Magoga Mashulskaya, Olga Kudriakova, Maxim Shatalkin accompanied the exhibition with a moving musical tribute by performing masterpieces by distinguished composers such as S. Prokofiev, C.W. Gluck, C. Franck, T. Albinoni, J.S. Bach, F. Chopin, M. Skoryk, Schubert, V. Kosenko, S. Rachmaninov, R.Vagner, F. Nietzche, V.A. Mozart, F. Chopin, I. Brahms, V. Silvestrov, A. Manotskov and others.
The event also featured short films by talented Ukrainian teenagers, who captured their experiences and the reality of living in a war-torn country. In a special exhibition segment, these powerful and provocative films shared a unique perspective on the conflict and testified to the resilience and creativity of Ukrainian youth. Films created by students of KinoCourse.online, a free online film school that provided teenagers tools to express their voices through the art of cinema. Thanks to Janna Akimova, Valentina Korabelnikova and Vera trust and participation which made this part of the exposition happen.
Along with the exposition was held a fundraiser for the Fond Mama Ira (@mama_ira_fond) that had been created by a woman whose mother was killed in Bucha, in her loving memory. The foundation helps children who lost their parents to war. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the guests who graciously supported our fundraiser. Thanks to your generous contributions, we successfully raised a total of $1556.15. We are immensely grateful for your support and for believing in our cause. We are pleased to inform you that the payment has been processed and sent through PayPal. After deducting the commission fees, we transferred a net amount of 1523.52 CAD (equivalent to 1071.10 USD) to the designated recipient. Your contributions have made a significant impact, and we are grateful for your continued support in helping us make a difference.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our incredible friends and dedicated volunteers who generously contributed their time, effort, and unwavering support to this charity event. We are truly grateful for your unwavering interest and wholehearted participation in our cause. Without your invaluable assistance, this charity event would not have been possible.
This event has been organized, supported and held by:
Olga Babina
Vladimir Pimonov
Tata Pemova
Maksim Vertiporokh
Svetlana Melnikova
Nelli Iliasova
Anna Varlamova
Lada Iskanderova
Eliza Olkinitskaya
Natalia Yugay
Janna Akimova
Maria Sourjko
Chesel Alexander
Alex Polev
Yulia Polonskaya
Maria Kartashova
Yuriy Gromov
Aleksandr Kliavinsh
We cannot express enough how much we appreciate your willingness to lend a helping hand and stand by us throughout this journey. Your belief in our mission and your dedication to making a difference have touched our hearts deeply. Once again, we want to convey our sincerest thanks to all our friends and volunteers. Your contributions have truly made a difference, and we are profoundly grateful for your invaluable support.
We would like to thank Concordia University for its financial support and trust in this initiative. We appreciate this support so much. And special thanks we would like to devote to all the guests and visitors whose interest and donations made this exposition visible and helped to raise the funds.