The exhibition "WARRIORS" by Ukrainian photographer Oksana Kami, dedicated to Ukrainian soldiers who were seriously wounded in the war and underwent treatment and prosthetics in the United States, has opened in Chicago. The exhibition will run from February 24 to March 11, 2026 at the Chicago Grand Gallery.
This was reported by the Chicago Grand Gallery and Revived Soldiers Ukraine.
As noted, the photo series was created by Ukrainian photographer and art historian Oksana Kami.
“The famous Ukrainian photographer and art critic Oksana Kami created a series of photographs with Ukrainian veterans who lost limbs in the war. She dedicates her project to her friends, the Titans, to each of whom she gave a photo shoot and through photography tells about them on the pages of glossy publications in America and Europe. All her Heroes are very beautiful People, each has its own story that can be read without translation… Oksana’s works are an example of the birth of conceptual photography in contemporary art, but the truth is that life is in every scar on the body of Ukraine and it hurts and will hurt…”, – shared impressions from the exhibition by the executive director of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation Of America, Maria Klymchak.
In particular, many of the heroes of the portraits underwent treatment and prosthetics in the USA thanks to the Revived Soldiers Ukraine programs.
“Many of the Heroes whose portraits are presented at the exhibition underwent treatment and prosthetics in the USA together with Revived Soldiers Ukraine. For over 10 years, we have been taking care of the most difficult cases, providing Ukrainian soldiers with the opportunity to receive highly specialized medical care and a chance for recovery and prosthetics in the best prosthetic centers in the USA. Oksana Kami created this project as a social initiative to support seriously wounded soldiers. She gave each of them a photo shoot - as an act of respect, as a gesture of recognition, as an opportunity to tell their story in the language of art,” noted Revived Soldiers Ukraine.
The exhibition invites viewers to rethink the concept of strength and realize the price of freedom, as well as to see Ukrainian defenders not as objects of sympathy, but as strong individuals who continue to build their future.
“At the heart of this project is not trauma, but transformation. Not trauma, but presence. Not victimhood, but dignity. This exhibition was created to be a witness. The men whose portraits are presented are not symbols, not newspaper headlines, not statistics. They are individuals – each with a name, a history, a sense of humor, a profession they once had, a family that awaits them, a future that they are still building. They have experienced frontline fighting, captivity, amputations and the loss of their comrades. However, in this space they are presented not as objects of compassion, but as subjects of strength. When I photograph them, I see intelligence, black humor and resilience. This exhibition is about dignity and the price of freedom”, – said the author of the project Oksana Kami.
Photo: Maria Klimchak, Oksana Kami
Author: Inna Mikhno