Visit Odesa Photo Days in Copenhagen this June

Copenhagen Photo Festival and Odesa Photo Days joins hands in Copenhagen in June

When Copenhagen Photo Festival celebrates photography in Copenhagen on 2-12 June, you can this year experience two exhibitions from the Ukrainian festival Odesa Photo Days. One by photo artist Olena Morozova, the other by a number of artists who in one night had to adjust to becoming war photographers. Copenhagen Photo Festival are pleased to announce the collaboration with the Ukrainian photo festival, which was canceled when the war broke out in Ukraine.

As a result of the war, everyday life has come to a standstill in Ukraine. This also applies to the cultural life, which usually blooms in the spring and summer months. The international festival of contemporary photography based in Ukraine Odesa Photo Days was to be held on 19-22 May, but as one of the countless cultural events it was canceled when the war broke out. Copenhagen Photo Festival reached out to Odesa Photo Days to collaborate on creating an alternative festival event.

In collaboration, the Nordic region’s largest photo festival and Kateryna Radchenko, leader of Odesa Photo Days, have arranged for two exhibitions to be shown in Copenhagen during the festival on 2-12. June. The exhibition Granny by Olena Morozova and the group exhibition The Thin Line, both curated by Kateryna Radchenko. Copenhagen Photo Festival’s director, Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, is looking forward to welcoming the Ukrainian sister festival:

“We are really happy to be able to reach out to Odesa Photo Days and give them an opportunity to realize two exhibitions under our auspices despite the unbearable situation they and the whole of Ukraine are in right now. Our hope is that with this collaboration we can both show some highly current exhibitions and at the same time support Odesa Photo Days and the Ukrainian photographers involved, ”says Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.

Artists on the front lines as war photographers
The Thin Line is one of the Ukrainian exhibitions to be found at the Copenhagen Photo Festival this summer. The exhibition contains photos of artists who, during one night, had to adjust to becoming war photographers on the front lines.

“In one night, Ukrainian photographers and artists turned into war correspondents documenting the destruction of their hometowns. I shifted the focus of Odesa Photo Days to tell the world what is happening in Ukraine and support photographers working on the front lines.” said Kateryna Radchenko, curator of the exhibition and director of Odesa Photo Days. She continues:

“The Thin Line exhibition is special in that it contains both photographs of the current war and earlier series of Ukrainian photographers. For me, this exhibition visually illustrates the state we are in now. When everything has changed, from the daily routine to the level of physical danger, from time to time the subconscious throws up pictures from “previous life”. I am happy for the support from my Danish colleagues and the opportunity to show The Thin Line as well as Granny by Olena Morozova, which is also an incredibly important and relevant exhibition.”

In Olena Morozova’s exhibition Granny, the artist depicts her grandmother’s life and challenge with dementia after a long life as a respected gynecologist and women’s advocate in Ukraine.

The exhibitions Granny and The Thin Line can be found in the center of the photo festival on Refshaleøen on 2-12 June 2022. Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022 is currently supported by the City of Copenhagen, the Obel Family Foundation and Creative Europe – the EU’s cultural support program. The festival’s final program is updated regularly at copenhagenphotofestival.com/en/

Press inquiries, contact:
Helene Obel, 2877 7927, helene@have.dk

About Copenhagen Photo Festival
2.-12. June 2022 is the 12th time that the Nordic region's largest photo festival kicks off. The festival is held in close collaboration with galleries, museums and cultural institutions in Copenhagen and southern Sweden. Every year, established and budding Danish and foreign photographers contribute, and the festival is visited by approx. 55,000 people. The festival puts photography on the agenda under the three main pillars Framing Identity, Framing Society and Framing Vision through exhibitions, workshops, talks, portfolio reviews and social events.

About Odesa Photo Days:
Odesa Photo Days is an international photo festival held in Ukraine. It highlights Ukrainian photography and connects artists, curators and researchers from different parts of the world: Western Europe, the United States, Eastern Europe, Central and Northeast Asia. The eighth edition of the festival should have taken place in Odesa on 19-22. May 2022. However, Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has changed everything. Now Kateryna Radchenko, director and curator of Odesa Photo Days, is working with the festival team to spread awareness of the situation in Ukraine and support Ukrainian documentary photographers and war artists affected by the war. www.thephotodays.org