Large-scale international art project "Art Train" visited the city of Kropyvnytskyi, transforming the railway station into a space for documentary photography from the war zone. The exhibition, realized with the support of American philanthropist Howard Buffett, was presented in three specially adapted train compositions.
The initiative is the result of extensive documentation of Ukrainian reality, carried out by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mohamed Muheisen. The photographer worked on the project for a total of 160 days, with 63 of them spent in close proximity to the front line.
Sergey Osadchy, chairman of the Bulgarian organization "Our People" in Kirovohrad region, emphasized the main goal of the exhibition – to present an authentic picture of the resistance and heroism of the Ukrainian people. The exhibition covers the period from April 2022 to December 2024 and documents key moments of the conflict.
During its three-day presentation in Kropyvnytskyi, the exhibition attracted the attention of hundreds of local residents, including a significant number of representatives of the Bulgarian community. They insist on expanding the project and presenting it in other European countries, including Bulgaria.
The historical context of the event is further reinforced by the fact that the area is associated with the oldest Bulgarian settlement in Ukraine. The villages of Olshanka, Dobroe, and Stankuvata are the first Bulgarian immigrant communities, whose settlement dates back to the distant year of 1774.
Osadchy called on the organizers and personally to Howard Buffett to continue the information campaign by expanding the geography of the exhibition and presenting it to the widest possible international audience.