In Montreal, the journalist Louis-Philippe Messier is mainly on the run, with his office in his backpack, looking for fascinating topics and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all areas of life in this city chronicle.
In a new exhibition, eleven real gates that have been bent, burned, kicked, shot at or blown up since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine open up a view of the violence of war.
An almost completely charred Hostomel wood door miraculously still holds its frame.
Another, from Kharkiv, was riddled with bullets.
Several had their handles amputated, replaced by boot-shaped holes where the kicks shattered them.
Photo Louis Philippe Messier
A charred face is revealed on this wooden door from a home in Hostomel that was exposed to intense heat.
Denouncing the fate of Ukraine
Ukrainian artist Ruslan Kurt’s Doors exhibition presents these artifacts to denounce the fate that Vladimir Putin’s forces have reserved for his country.
I think I see bullet holes on another metal door from Kharkiv.
“It’s more like shards or debris being thrown out by an explosion,” says Bella Rohachova, coordinator of the Montreal Arts Center, the Griffintown Gallery-Museum that houses the exhibit.
Ms. Rohachova points to the irregular shapes of the openings in the twisted metal.
She tells me, moved, that her parents are still living in a suburb north of Kiev.
Photo Louis Philippe Messier
This Kharkiv gate is riddled with bullet holes.
destruction
We heard stories about the invasion war in Ukraine, we saw pictures. We heard a little girl singing in a bunker during a bombardment.
But before these artifacts of destruction, you would surely think of your own front door like me…
“What could be more universal than a door? A door damaged by bullets or an explosion is an eloquent witness,” explains Mr. Kurt, who had the doors flown in.
“My exhibition isn’t made up of objects: it’s about the people whose homes defended those doors. »
Mr. Kurt is originally from Melitopol and immigrated to Canada in the summer of 2022. Today, on the 1st anniversary of the war, he will be at the Montreal Art Center. His exhibition will remain there until Sunday February 26th… before moving on to Saskatoon.
“If galleries in Quebec City or Trois-Rivières or anywhere else in Quebec want to host my exhibition, they just have to contact me,” says Mr. Kurt.
The exhibition is free but encourages donations to the United24 initiative, launched by President Volodymyr Zelinsky to support the Ukrainian resistance.
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