The exhibition Peace Has No Home: Posters for Ukraine will be on display at Public Works Gallery in Chicago from September 8 to November 18, 2023. Works by artists from Poland and other countries, created, among others, as part of the 33 Letters for Ukraine project, express the support of the artistic community for the country attacked by Russia. The exhibition was prepared by The Spirit of Poland Foundation, Public Works Gallery and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in cooperation with the Polish Institute in New York.
The title of the exhibition reflects the conviction that the war triggered by Russia poses a threat not only to Ukraine, and can only be effectively countered by the involvement of the entire international community and universal respect for the values of peace. Among the posters in the exhibition will be those created as recently as the first days after the Russian invasion in February 2022, such as In Solidarity with Ukraine (Studio Lekko) and Russian Bear (Paweł Jońca); as well as later works created individually or by artists gathered around organizations such as the Polish Pogotowie Graficzne (e.g., a poster depicting the slogan: "Dear Putin, let's speed up to the part where you kill yourself in a bunker") or the American Someoddpilot, closely associated with Public Works Gallery.
A large part of the exhibition will be occupied by posters titled: 33 Letters for Ukraine, prepared during a spontaneous solidarity action in March/April 2022, when a group of artists, mostly from Poland, posted specially prepared designs of 33 letters from the Ukrainian alphabet on Instagram. The purpose of these actions was to demonstrate support for invaded Ukraine - expressed through the emphasis placed on its subjectivity as "an independent country with its own culture, history and language". The action of the entire community, inspired by the 36 Days of Type project, was initiated by Polish female designers: Joanna Fidler-Wieruszewska, Alina Rybacka-Gruszczyńska and Agnieszka Kotowska.
Some of the posters comprising the Chicago exhibition were made available to the public last September at Midori-So Gallery in Tokyo under the banner of Independence. Artworks for Ukraine. As it was then, the exhibition Peace Has No Home: Posters for Ukraine is under the curatorial care of Monika Brauntsch and Ewelina Skowrońska, who will participate in a panel discussion together with Public Works Gallery director Nick Butcher and artist Zofia Jaworowska on the opening day (September 8).
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is a national cultural institution, established in 2000. The Institute's goal of building sustained interest in Polish culture around the world is pursued in cooperation with foreign partners and through international cultural exchanges in dialogue with audiences, in line with Polish foreign policy. By 2022, the Institute had completed projects in more than 70 countries on six continents. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
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