Ukrainian children witnessed the military aggression of the Russian Federation. But despite the martial law in the country, they continue to create. Strong in spirit and courageous, like Ukrainian soldiers-defenders, they are confident in the Victory of good over evil and sincerely reflect on paper their emotions, thoughts, and most importantly, their wishes and dreams for a peaceful life.
    Exhibition of works by young artists about the war "Our home is Ukraine!" is presented as part of the museum art project "Gallery of Children's Art" on the website of the Oleksandr Osmerkin Memorial Art Museum in the "Selected Exhibitions" section. Its participants are students of the fine arts department of the Children's School of Arts in the city of Kropyvnytskyi (head of the department Olga Krasnopolska) and the art class of the Taraschanska Children's Music School of the Kyiv region (teacher Oksana Zhuravel), as well as pupils of the "Design and Decor" studio of the City Palace of Children and Youth of the Dnipro City Council (head of the studio Maria Rakhmanova).
    The exposition of the exhibition consists of almost 100 creative works of 52 authors, aged from 6 to 18, made in various visual techniques: colored pencils, felt-tip pen, gouache, watercolor, gel pen and even linorite, made on the basis of documentary photos of the terrible events of the war. The curators of the exhibition talk about how the drawings were created, how children perceive modern Ukrainian reality and how they dream of a peaceful, bright, happy life.
    Olga Krasnopolska, head of the fine arts department of the Children's School of Arts in the city of Kropyvnytskyi: "Most of the drawings were made in the first, morally difficult weeks of the war. She gave the children urgent tasks so that, sitting in bomb shelters, corridors, basements, they not only listened to the conversations of adults and reports from the front line, but were distracted by Olga Serhiivna's "urgent and extremely important task." Many of the children thus left their thoughts, anxieties, and fears on paper. Parents sent me photos of works and children from storage, even videos of them painting while singing Ukrainian songs. We taught how to work in social networks, it is also important for modern children to know that they have been heard and seen. And the exhibition, although virtual, in the museum is even more important for children, and for parents, and for teachers, and for all those who protect us now."
    Oksana Zhuravel, a teacher at the Taraschanska Children's Music School of the Kyiv region: "In our art class, children from different parts of the Taraschanskyi district in the Kyiv region study. Everyone is experiencing that wild act of Russian aggression against Ukraine, which began on the night of February 24. Now we are forced to study remotely, separated from each other in our homes. Someone stayed in Ukraine, someone was taken far abroad by fate, but no one left their favourite painting. The drawings acquired new qualities of deep awareness of today's reality. They are united by a note of confidence in our Victory and the desire for a future peaceful life in their state, because Ukraine is our common home."
    Head of the Design and Decor studio of the City Palace of Children and Youth of the Dnipro City Council, Maria Rakhmanova: "The students of the Design and Decor studio are not only schoolchildren, but also students of higher educational institutions of various specialties. Works presented at the exhibition "Our home is Ukraine!" in the Oleksandr Osmerkin Museum, performed after February 24, 2022. Due to the symbolism of things, philosophical generalizations and fixation of real events, personal perceptions of our pupils of the tragic events of this wild, cruel war of the 21st century, which is still ongoing on the territory of our state, are vividly reflected in them. But even in the conditions of the disrupted usual life space, young artists are supported by the irresistible power of art, which gives them strength and faith in victory and hope for a peaceful future."
    With this virtual exhibition, young artists and their creative mentors join the all-Ukrainian project "Mom, I see war" ("Mom, I see war"), which is implemented by the NGO "Laboratory of primary placement of tokens. Ukraine", by the Ukrainian Startup Fund, the Perfect PR Public Communications Agency, the Vasyl Stus Memorial NGO, the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the main idea of which is: "War and Peace in Ukraine, children's drawings will become the basis for the world's largest manifesto-collage, which will forever remain in the digital network with the help of NFT technology."