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Kateryna Yushchenko and Arseny Yatseniuk Present the Touch and See Photo Exhibition
19 May 2008 18:30
May 19, 2008, the Ukrainian House in Kyiv hosted the unveiling of Ukraine’s first photo exhibition for the blind people, Touch and See. Among its participants were Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko, Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and founder of the Open Ukraine Fund Arseny Yatseniuk, author of the idea and the photos Yuri Bilak, celebrities who have recorded soundtracks for the pictures, representatives of the Open Ukraine Fund, Ukraine 3000 Foundation, Ukrainian Association of the Blind People, etc.
Addressing the audience, Mrs. Yushchenko emphasized the importance of the discussion on free access to education, medical aid, and the arts for the handicapped people, which had started in Ukraine. “We thank our partners Yury Bilak, Arseny Yatseniuk, and his Open Ukraine Fund for making Ukraine open not only for the world but for all people who today have limited access to education and culture,” she said.
Mrs. Kateryna said that the Ukraine 3000 Foundation had initiated the creation of a single rehabilitation space – an integrated program embracing all people with special needs. “While this program is being developed, our Foundation has made a decision to earmark UAH 100,000 for the needs of the visually handicapped people, especially children,” she said.
Mr. Yatseniuk said that the Open Ukraine Fund had supported this cultural and social charitable project, because it allowed seeing Ukraine in a new perspective, as an innovative and responsible country with a European mentality. In his words, this is a graphic example of how joint efforts by the Ukrainians abroad, national business, politicians, and artists can bring the real world closer to people deprived of the ability to see it in full color.
Mr. Yatseniuk added that the Open Ukraine Fund was launching the exhibition’s tour of Ukrainian cities: Lviv, Donetsk (to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the local association of the blind people), Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. This will give more visually handicapped Ukrainians a chance to make an acquaintance with Ukrainian and world culture.
“I’m happy to see my idea of a tactile photo exhibition becoming reality,” Mr. Bilak said. ‘I’m happy to see so many nice people from my two native countries, Ukraine and France, to be involved in this project. It has united many our partners – people who have supported us financially, technicians from Louvre, who had developed the photos, blind people who were our beta-testers, and celebrities who have recorded the comments. I can see that what we have been doing for a long time really makes sense.”
Ukraine’s first photo exhibition for the blind people, Touch and See, will be displayed at the Ukrainian House from May 13 till 23, 2008. The author of its idea and photos is Ukrainian photo artist Yuri Bilak, with the support from the Open Ukraine Fund, Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation, and the Embassy of France to Ukraine.
The exhibition has on display 30 3D photos from Yuri Bilak’s “The Ukrainians” series. Every color photo is coupled with its tactile replica, a transparent embossed file made of polymers. Every work is accompanied with a soundtrack describing the picture. They were recorded by prominent Ukrainian politicians and artists: Kateryna Yushchenko, Arseny Yatseniuk, Volodymyr Hryshko, Nina Matviyenko, Oleh Skrypka, Foma of the Mandry rock group, Oleh Pinchuk, Olha Herasimyuk, Sashko Polozhynsky, Olha Sumska, Bohdan Beniuk, Oksana Bilozir, Mykola Veresen’, Yuri Makarov, et. al. Mrs. Kateryna Yushchenko has recorded soundtracks for the photos The Christmas Eve (No.13) and Maternity Hospital (No.20).
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