Melanoma Warrior Memory Exhibition
The owner of the exhibition is a melanoma warrior named Ulyana. She loves her mother and drawing the sky, creating mosaic cats and decorating different cities with them, writing poetry and blogging about the disease. She died in November 2021, and this exhibition is a memory of her.
This exhibition was supposed to take place back in March 2020, but due to the outbreak of the pandemic, it had to be postponed, since all exhibition halls were closed and we were by the whole world in self-isolation.
Today we and the rest of the guests were greeted by Yana(mother) and Ulyana's husband. When we arrived, Yana was finishing a story about each work presented, but this did not prevent us from viewing the entire exhibition - next to each work there was a description and poems written by a melanoma warrior, which especially touched with their simplicity, and at the same time with strength and deep meaning.
A special surprise was the appearance of an oncologist with whom Ulyana was friends. Dr. Arhitskaya with a bit of humor told about moles, how to examine them and how important it is to cultivate skin care and health. For example, she told about Australia, where children are taught to protect themselves from the sun from an early age. The result is a significant reduction in melanoma diseases.
After the presentation, the doctor were bombarded with questions, and when all the answers were given, and cakes were eaten in pauses (Yana had a birthday), it was time for the hardest block - a story about Ulyana's illness and her six-year struggle with melanoma. Various interviews with the warrior were shown here, told about the last days of her life (she continued to paint pictures almost without seeing, speaking badly and without getting out of bed). An interview with her mother and husband was shown separately, where they told how they were experiencing her departure. Ulyana died on November 4, 4 days after she turned 34.
This exhibition was supposed to take place back in March 2020, but due to the outbreak of the pandemic, it had to be postponed, since all exhibition halls were closed and we were by the whole world in self-isolation.
Today we and the rest of the guests were greeted by Yana(mother) and Ulyana's husband. When we arrived, Yana was finishing a story about each work presented, but this did not prevent us from viewing the entire exhibition - next to each work there was a description and poems written by a melanoma warrior, which especially touched with their simplicity, and at the same time with strength and deep meaning.
A special surprise was the appearance of an oncologist with whom Ulyana was friends. Dr. Arhitskaya with a bit of humor told about moles, how to examine them and how important it is to cultivate skin care and health. For example, she told about Australia, where children are taught to protect themselves from the sun from an early age. The result is a significant reduction in melanoma diseases.
After the presentation, the doctor were bombarded with questions, and when all the answers were given, and cakes were eaten in pauses (Yana had a birthday), it was time for the hardest block - a story about Ulyana's illness and her six-year struggle with melanoma. Various interviews with the warrior were shown here, told about the last days of her life (she continued to paint pictures almost without seeing, speaking badly and without getting out of bed). An interview with her mother and husband was shown separately, where they told how they were experiencing her departure. Ulyana died on November 4, 4 days after she turned 34.
Our team visited the memorial evening. A small photo report.
Despite the fact that the exhibition was dedicated to memory, it was held in a special atmosphere. There was always a feeling that now a laughing Ulyana would come out from behind the screen, who managed to ignite the belief in tens of thousands of people with her story and example that life (no matter how hard it was) is beautiful and worth going through all the trials.
