War Toys: Ukraine

Oct. 2, 2024 - Jan. 5, 2025 Lower Level Lobby

Children often share their experiences and emotions through indirect methods of communication such as art and play. As a result, their personal accounts of war frequently go unseen and unheard by the international community.

War Toys: Ukraine draws attention to individual children and communities affected by war.

Internationally recognized photographer Brian McCarty collaborates with specialized therapists and children who have been affected by conflict on a unique project titled War Toys, which is now active in and near Ukraine. The project invokes principles of expressive art therapy to safely gather and articulate children's accounts of warfare.

A child's colorful drawing on a white background. Two figures resembling people, one pink and one blue, sit at the bottom corner of the page. With a blue crayon, the child drew a playground slide at the center of the page.

Marko (Interviewed by Evgeniya Zakrevskaya)

“Playground”

Chernihiv, Ukraine, July 2022

Courtesy of War Toys®

Two plastic dolls resembling a father and son stand in the sand near a rusted playground slide. Nearby, sticking out of the sand nose down, is a toy missile painted to look like a red fish with a black tail.

Brian McCarty

“Playground”

Hostomel, Ukraine, July 2022

Courtesy of War Toys®

In this exhibition, 12 children’s drawings are presented alongside McCarty’s photographs. In the process of sharing their artwork, children would often reveal the details that were most important or impactful to them, but also bury other elements as if to protect them. The viewers’ eyes will move back and forth from McCarty’s works to the children’s drawings, recognizing the similarities and differences – but most importantly, reading between the lines.

A child's drawing on a white background. A plane drawn in green crayon drops bananas over a building, two trucks, the Ukraine flag, and a stick figure holding red flames.

Vanya (Interviewed by Viktoria Vitkalova)

“Grandma vs Banana Bomber”

Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2022

Courtesy of War Toys®

A wooden doll wearing a floral print fress and white apron prepares to throw Lego resembeling a Molotov cocktail. On the ground sits three plastic toy vehicles and a plastic Ukrainian flag. A toy plane flies through the air above, dropping plastic bananas from the sky.

Brian McCarty

“Grandma vs Banana Bomber”

Irpin, Ukraine, August 2022

Courtesy of War Toys®

“After a decade of fieldwork and research devoted to centering the voices and experiences of children affected by war, we know that the cost of conflict is too high and is paid, not in capital, but in the lives, mental health, and well-being of generations of children.”

—Brian McCarty

On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014.

The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. UNICEF estimates there are 5.2 million Ukrainian children in need of urgent assistance.

War Toys: Ukraine is hosted in tandem with Museum and Memorial exhibition The Little War.

Opened in early 2024, The Little War explores children’s experiences during World War I. Though over a century has passed since The War to End All Wars, conflict and war remain a reality for many children across the globe today.

Image: Illustrations of children dressed in different countries' military uniforms while waving national flags. Text: 'The Little War'

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On view through Jan. 5, 2025

This traveling exhibition is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, with Missouri Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts.

ExhibitsUSA / A program of Mid-America Arts Alliance

National Endowment for the Arts / arts.gov

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