Palianytsa I House of a modern Ukrainian family

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#standwithukraine

Project: Palianytsa
Design & Images: Anastasiia Romaniv
Year: 2022

Ukrainian culture is very old. Through the generations, each of us tries to preserve the history and pass it on to successors. For me, Ukraine lies in songs, clothes, signs, elements of life, and cherry orchards.

People write books and very long texts about Ukrainian culture. But I am not a historian. I am an ordinary Ukrainian. So I gathered the images that describe Ukraine the most (for me).

«A nation that forgets its’ past has no future»

Naming

Historically Ukrainians were farmers. They loved their lands, nature, and what the Earth could give them.

The bread and the house were sacred to them. They still are. Palianytsa is a type of Ukrainian hearth-baked bread, made mostly of wheat flour in a home oven.

So I decided to name this project Palianytsa. House of a modern Ukrainian family.

On Feb 24, 2022, russia invaded Ukraine. The full-scale war has begun.
As my family and friends live there I experienced a very challenging time. So I decided to create this project not only to distract myself from those horrible events but also to tell the world about Ukraine both: old and modern.

By the time of publication of this project:
-12 million people left their homes;
-1.4 million forcibly deported to Russia;
-6.8 million fled the country;
-4100 civilians died (not including the city of Mariupol);
-around 22.000 people died in Mariupol;
- 44 million sq. m of housing destroyed;
-24.000 km of roads destroyed;

At first glance, those are just the numbers. But all of those people had their ordinary lives. They also ate avo toast for breakfast and planned the next vacation. But one day, they woke up from the sounds of an air attack.
Overall, it is just a reminder: value every moment of your life, because everything may drastically change tomorrow.