Lawyer Danilo Gregovic, who opened a private museum of war photography ”Images of War” in Zagreb four years ago, said that he was invited to be one of the speakers at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to war photography that was installed in the subway in Kyiv.
”The photos show scenes from the battlefields in Croatia, Bosnia, Syria, and Iraq. About 70 photos are on display. I thought it was unusual to see an exhibition about the war in a country where war is raging, I didn’t know what effect it would have,” Gregovic stated.
Teary eyes
”However, I witnessed Ukrainians looking at the displayed photos in tears. The exhibition was opened in the subway for safety reasons. After Kyiv, the exhibition will be in other cities in Ukraine, including Dnipro and Kherson, and then continue to Europe. The opening was attended by many dignitaries, journalists, German ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen, Croatian ambassador Anica Djamic and deputy mayor Vitali Klitschko. Since it is the main and very busy station, many people pass by and many stop,” he added.
”A journalist from the German radio station ADR called me. I don’t know how they got to me. She asked me if I could record and send them a statement regarding the war photo exhibition they are opening. I recorded the statement and after that, they called me asking if I would come to Kyiv. It literally took me fifteen minutes to decide that I would go, I was honored. The creative director of the Museum of War Photography, my son Marko, who lives in Berlin, went with me to Kyiv. He also accepted the invitation without thinking. The exhibition was organized by the local union of Ukrainian journalists, and financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation,” Gregovic explains.
Photographs by Ron Haviv
”What we stand for in our museum is that the war belongs to the museum. However, there is now a black-and-white situation, as it once was in our country. One of the theses is that a Russian pacifist should be closer to them than an instigator from their own backyard. But, at the moment, the situation is not such that it can be said that war is a tragedy, a misery, and those who buried their children do not care if their children are victims of a just or unjust war,” Gregovic further states.
At the exhibition, among other things, the photographs of the famous war photographer Ron Haviv, which are also in the holdings of the Zagreb War Museum, were shown.
”We met a long time ago in Sarajevo. As his photos are also on display in the subway, the organizer told me that there is a possibility that he will come. He was in a small town right on the border, I sent him a message and we met. He came to the exhibition and gave a great speech. He told me that he is very happy that the word has spread and that we are the patrons of the exhibition. He believes that the task of photography is not to entertain you, but to teach you, to make you sick of war. That is the message of his photographs,” Gregovic mentioned.
”He is an emotionally reserved man, but after the opening, he approached me and hugged me. He is completely dedicated to what he does. His photos were determined by fate. The photograph of the presidential candidate in Panama who was killed, and dismembered before his eyes were, I think, among the factors that influenced the United States (U.S.) to send its troops there. The second photograph is from Bijeljina, where a member of Arkan’s Paramilitaries, with his rifle hanging from his arm, kicks people lying on the road with their heads covered. Admittedly, that photo had no effect at the time. I have no illusions that it can change the world better than apathy, cynicism, or something even worse. Along with Bijeljina, photos of Vukovar are also on display,” he added, Avaz reports.
E.Dz.
Photo: Danilo Gregovic
