The following three portraits were created in the course of April-May of 2022 in dedication to the children under the care of Chernobyl Children International (CCI). The aim of this creative project was to highlight the incredible work that this organization is doing since 1991. They provide support to kids and young adults whose health has been gravely affected by the radioactive contamination as a result of the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. CCI makes immense contributions to the well-being of affected communities across Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia helping to make lives of vulnerable individuals and families as full and enriching as possible.
The Chernobyl accident viscerally affected me and my family as well. I was born a bit more than 200 km from the city of Chernobyl, 7 years after the disaster, with four fingers on each of my hands. Shortly after my mother gave birth to me, she was diagnosed with a small tumor in her thyroid gland and needed to have a surgery. Since then, she carries what is called a Chernobyl necklace — a scar on her neck from the thyroid gland removal that many female survivors of the Chernobyl accident have; an embodied memory of a tragic event that the Earth should have never witnessed in the first place. This personal experience became an entry point for me into the world of nuclear disarmament. I feel deeply concerned about the issues of radioactive exposure and the threat of use of nuclear weapons in the light of Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The danger of repeating the tragic mistakes of our predecessors is much higher since February 24, 2022.
As an artist, I felt called to make an homage to the Chernobyl community in a form of three collages you will find down below. It is my hope that these artworks can, to some extent, contribute to opening of our hearts and perhaps help us recognize how profoundly our actions affect the lives of others.
Embodied memory of the explosion.
1/3 — Inner Radiance
One of the programs under the stewardship of CCI:
“The heart is one of the organs most vulnerable to the effects of radiation, and every year, thousands of children in Ukraine are born with genetic heart diseases and defects. One of these defects is the condition known as “Chernobyl Heart”.
Volunteer surgical teams travel to Eastern Ukraine to perform surgeries that save lives, and CCI provides financial and logistical support to the cardiac surgeons in order for them to make the vital trips. During each trip, the surgical teams aim to save the lives of between 30 and 40 children”.
2/3 — Blooming Future
“CCI offers programmes designed to give sick children the respite they need from the radioactive environment in which they are forced to live. Volunteer host families throughout Ireland have given more than 25,600 children the opportunity to enjoy a recuperative stay away from the debilitating environment in which they live.
Just as important, these children return to their communities with the comforting knowledge that the outside world has not forgotten about them. As more and more volunteers have opened their arms to these children over the years, the initiative has gone from strength to strength, becoming the inspiration for similar programmes throughout the world".
3/3 — Beacon of Hope
I could not find a better way to finish this series of portraits than by sharing the powerful words of Adi Roche, the founder of Chernobyl Children International. She delivered them in her speech at the UN meeting that marked the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, which I listened to with goosebumps:
“Let us relight that beacon of hope (…), and let that beacon light flesh around the planet, but especially let that light of hope fly to the dear people of Belarus, of Ukraine, of Russia, to say to them: “Look, look! The flame if not quenched. The beacon is still alight! Gather near, and gather strength from its light and from its warmth, because you are not forgotten, you are not alone. You are among friends and neighbors who care and who want to share in your place, not just with fine words but with positive and life-changing initiatives of action. For there is always hope. There must be hope and that hope lies with all of you”.P.S. — To Have No Enemies
It has been a great delight and an honor to make this series of collages. Every photograph spoke to me in its own unique way and found its particular expression as a portrait. I am feeling very grateful for having had the opportunity to support these wonderful children and to share the work of CCI with you.
Surely, I do not need to tell you that these are turbulent times. I do think, however, that it is possible to find a way to respond with openness and creative love to them. At least this was my experience with this project. It gave me a lot of hope that the heaviness of many aspects of our collective experience can soon transform in incredible and unexpected ways for the better.
I see the lives of children that these three works are dedicated to as one of the most outstanding examples of our interconnectedness. The choices made by the generation of their parents and grandparents have directly shaped the present of these kids in drastic ways. I believe they have the power to teach us how to honor our social responsibility and how to value life in ways we were not always capable of before.
There are many different forms in which we can co-exist peacefully on one planet, to delight in our diversity as well as our unity as human beings. It does not need to involve inflicting more destruction and suffering on one another. After all, we all enter the world as children, having no enemy to fight and no one to hate. May we all be able to leave this world in the same way when our time comes.
From my heart to yours.
(If you would like to support CCI with donations, there are several ways of doing so and you can find them all here)
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