“Just tell my truth”

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At today's Culture vs. War conference, I want to emphasize the importance of shared stories.

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I will start my story after playing you a short video. In the video you will see my conversation with Grisho, who lives in my native village in Ukraine and is the model for one of my paintings from the “Hunger” series. Grisho was the first viewer of the Holodomor works I made during 2023 in Ukraine.

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(Video with Grisho: https://www.yonatukuser.art/europeanparliament )

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I asked Grisho what I should tell people. He urged me: “I told you the truth. Just tell my truth”.

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Grisho's tale is the voice of millions whose lives have been affected by the 20th century Holodomor and the current war in Ukraine. Our world is full of devastating pain and suffering caused by war, aggression and oppression. Grisho, with the wisdom born of his suffering and by the power of simple statement, reminds us that speaking the truth is a matter of courage and necessity.

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It is in the following words of Isaac Newton that we find the key to understanding - “Truth is always to be found in simplicity, not in the complicity and confusion of things”. Aggression and war feed on dark motives, on fear and ignorance, these lead to confusion and generate chaos from which neither the individual nor society can find a way out or any constructive solutions to. But I believe that the light of truth has the power to dispel the fog and make the path to change clear. Let us strive for a future that arises from truth through empathy. Aggression is weakness, not strength, legitimate strength is truth itself.

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My biggest childhood fear was war. I believed that this was the greatest evil of all and that there was nothing more terrible. But later on I discovered there was something more sinister. In 2018, while collecting testimonies from survivors of the third Famine of 1946-47 in Ukraine, I asked an elderly witness, “Which is more terrifying, the famine or the war?” This elderly woman had lived through both World War II and the Famine that followed – her assessment of both was most realistic. Her answer made my blood run cold: “Famine is more terrifying than war.” I was shocked that death by starvation is more terrible than death itself and war.

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“Just tell my truth”

In the current war against Ukraine, crimes continue, including Russia's use of starvation as a weapon. This fact reminds me of the unpunished crimes of the Soviet government of the past. We are witnessing a repetition of Moscow's historical genocidal policy on the population of Ukraine, and this found expression in one of my latest paintings dedicated to contemporary wartime hunger.

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The painting titled with a quote from Ilya's story “I was so hungry that I ate my friend's toy” is inspired by the story of 6-year-old Ilya Kostusevich, who experienced the horrors of the war-locked city of Mariupol in March 2022. His parents were killed, and Ilya spent three weeks without food in a bomb shelter, where he was forced to eat his friend's toy to keep from starving.” This was shared by Ilya’s foster mother Maria, aged 22, who adopted Ilya together with her spouse 27-year-old Vladimir Bespalov.

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Maria shares: “Ilya says: my parents died, but how will I be here on earth alone now? I explained to him that this was a war, a cruel war. And that happens, unfortunately.” “But I told him: now you are not alone. We got you and we'll take care of you. We will love you. We will be your family - but only if you want us to. We can be your mom and dad. Because your mommy and daddy are already in heaven. They're looking at you. They are happy for you. And he said, “Okay!” And agreed for us to be his mom and dad.”

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The fact that Ilya was left alone without his parents in the dark in a basement for three weeks without food unfolds in the context of the impunity of the Soviet regime, which was not punished for the mass murders committed through starvation. This prompted me to send a letter with a photo of the painting to the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accompanied by a request that he consider the story of Ilya from Mariupol in the investigation of the war crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine, when people are facing inhumane conditions of survival. Taking away the right to access food - this is genocide!

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So, I “Just tell the artist’s truth”.

Before I start painting, I study in detail not only every story I recreate in paintings, but also psychological, physiological and social consequences of hunger. Through painting, I strive to convey the inner feelings of the starving person, emphasizing not so much on the realistic shape, but on the human feelings and the inner essence of the starving individual.

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In an effort to be authentic in conveying the mental and physiological changes of the starving human being, I decided to conduct an experiment on myself by undergoing prolonged starvation. This experience broadened my understanding of the sensations of the starving and contributed to a deeper knowledge of the deforming inner self. The new knowledge leads me to a better understanding of the psychological aspects of the problem, which I subsequently weave into my painting, creating more empathetic and powerful messages.

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To support the results obtained from internal self-observations of mental changes due to prolonged hunger, I refer to the scientific work of Pitirim Sorokin, - “Hunger as a factor. The Influence of Famine on Human Behaviour, Social Organization and Public Life.” According to the researcher, hunger causes deformations in various areas of the human psyche, including in the area of general self-awareness and sensory-emotional experiences, sensations and perceptions. It is particularly important that hunger leads to a deformation of memory, due to changes in sensations, perceptions and ideas. The author explains that during starvation, when one is close to death, delirium occurs - a complete disorder of consciousness and disintegration of the personality. “Deprivation of food can lead to a specific form of mental disorder called 'exhaustion delirium.”

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In the painting “I was so hungry that I ate my friend's toy”, I depict the deformed image of Iliya devouring a teddy bear, presenting hunger as a factor that deforms his psyche and possibly causes hunger delirium. The painting is an interpretation of Iliya's story, trying to recreate his mental experiences and question whether what he tells is the result of a hungry delirium or a true account. In both cases, this story serves as evidence of genocide.

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And I “Just tell the science truth”.

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While creating the “Hunger” project, I used a scientific-artistic method of cognition. Since 2009, I have been conducting an independent historical investigation aimed at uncovering the truth about the deliberate actions of the Soviet government in Ukraine in the 20th century, which caused the death of millions of people due to artificial famine and even led to cases of cannibalism. I research documents from Ukrainian state archives about the artificial famines between 1921-22, 1932-33 and 1946-47, as well as conduct interviews with survivors. I recreate the acquired knowledge about the famine through art in the form of paintings, attempting to keep the memory of the famine victims alive. From the hazy abstract image of the statistics that cover millions who died of starvation, I try to extract the tragic personal story of the single man. My approach is to show the faces of the victims, by expressing their personal perception, which brings human fate back to the center of public attention.

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The name of each painting is a name from a document I found in a government archive or a quote from a surviving witness captured by me on camera.

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In order to personally feel the tragedy of my compatriots, I met and recorded my conversations with more than 80 elderly people in Ukraine who became victims of artificial famine after the Second World War.
An old woman said to me: “I wish for you young people to never experience such a thing. To not simply never experience it, but to also never see it. Neigh, never even hear about it”. I didn't heed her warning and I told “simply their truth”. The survivors of the Famine wanted the story of what happened to be forgotten. The pain still lives on inside them, it is so strong that they refuse to talk about it. Some witnesses, while recounting their memories, cried as if it had happened recently.

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But in addition to speaking with the victims of the famine, I also talked to the executioners. I happened to meet an elderly man who, during our conversation in front of the camera, revealed to me that he was one of the grain collectors, part of the armed squads that forcibly took food supplies from people. He bluntly told me: “I was a grain collector. One of those bandits who went from house to house robbing people of grain”. This man took away the food from the people, and then went around the village with his cart to collect the corpses of those who died of starvation. And this same man, towards the end of his life, began writing letters to various government institutions, asking them to recognize the 1946-47 Famine as a genocide committed by the Stalinist communist regime, as well as the 1932-1933 Famine-genocide.

The grain collector admits his guilt, participation in the genocide against his countrymen. Why not accept his repentance? How can there still be doubts and disputes about whether the Holodomor is genocide when the perpetrator himself clearly admits his guilt and declares it to be genocide?

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The grain collector shared his truth: “I have a document. In 2007 the village council of Golitsa concluded that the causes of the 1946-47 famine cannot be determined and therefore they do not recognize it as genocide. I tell them, what more evidence do you want? I myself am the proof!” I lived through the terrible time of famine in 1946-47, as a result of which more than a thousand people died of hunger in the village of Golitsa. I personally transported 20 to 50 corpses a day with my cart. I seized the grain from the people so that they would be forced to become part of the collective farm. Stalin's communist regime gave the population an ultimatum, either hand over all your food and enter the collective farm or die. The famine in 1946-47. is genocide.”

I asked him what I should tell people about him, he replied: “Just tell my truth”.

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The interview narrative adds to the documentary evidence and strongly confirms that the famine of 1946-47 was not the result of drought, as Russian propaganda claimed, but the result of systematically organized actions by the Soviet government, similar to those occurring in the Famines of 1921-23 and 1932-33. The grain collector shares the ultimatum before which the population was put: “Either you enter the collective farm, or you die of hunger.” This man, who lived through the genocidal reality imposed by the regime, is now committed to uncovering the truth.

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During the Famine, grain was forcibly taken from the Ukrainian people by the Soviet authorities, and today it is being burned by Russian missile attacks, leading to global food shortages and making it difficult to export Ukrainian grain to the neediest countries in the world. To show the analogy with the past, I created the installation “Geran”, which presents a fragment of a Russian drone called “Geran” and authentic burned grain, the result of an attack by this drone on a grain warehouse at a port on the Danube in 2023. We can clearly see , that hunger/food is used as a weapon and a means of subjugation, by both Stalin and Putin. Today we are witnessing the fourth genocide committed by Moscow against the Ukrainian people.

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“Just tell my truth”

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My strong interest in discovering the truth about the last Famine of 1946-47 was provoked after a debate at a scientific conference devoted to the famine of that period in Odesa region, where controversies arose. The professors argued about the authenticity of a reproduction embedded in a painting of mine showing cannibals caused by artificial starvation. I even faced denial by professors about the existence of cannibalism in 1946-47 in Odesa region, as it happened during the Famine of 1921-23 and 1932-33. I had to defend the scientific truth in my paintings , which were created on the basis of documents and facts, not mythological fantasies. And this provoked me to do my own research in this area - as a scientist and historian. I set out to find the answer to the question: were there real cases of cannibalism in 1946-47, or was it perhaps just a rumor?

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In April 2018, equipped with a video camera, I undertook an expeditionary survey across Ukrainian villages to collect accounts from the elderly who survived the famine of 1946-1947. The data obtained revealed details of the terrible reality of the famine, including cases of cannibalism that were previously dismissed by some historians. The collected video archive is an important source of confirmation of cannibalism, which until now has been doubted. The accounts of 80 survivors emerged as a key element in the scholarly research I conducted to examine the historical events of this period in Ukraine.

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And so I continued to tell their truth.

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The famine was not the result of a natural disaster, but the result of political decisions that destroyed not only the human body but also human essence. I have collected evidence in my documentary “Anthropophage”, in which I present interviews with the eyewitnesses of the Famine. One of the stories, recreated in the painting “She Ate One of Her Child's Legs”, tells of a mother who went mad from debilitating hunger and became a cannibal.

In a video interview, another woman wanted to share the following truth: “My mother used to tell me that during the famine, our neighbor had four children. Mom hadn't seen these children outside for a long time and decided to go check what was going on. Upon entering the house, she saw one girl sitting by the stove and suckling on her hair from hunger. And the youngest child lay in the cradle with a leg and an arm eaten by its mother. The mother had eaten the little hand and one leg. The child was tiny. By the evening, the mother died and we, the neighbors, buried her”.

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If this mother were alive today and knew that today I would stand before you, in the capital of Europe, in the building where laws and policies are forged, then to my question, what should I tell you all about her, she would answer me: “Just tell my truth”.

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Famine in Ukraine was used as a weapon of mass destruction. This dark episode in history calls for an awareness of the power and responsibility that politicians carry. Therefore, I call on all politicians in the world: be careful what laws you make, because your decisions can lead to genocide.

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“Just tell my truth”

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The fire of truth must be kindled in our hearts, we must rise up against the lies and reveal the light of humanity. Shared stories are the key to feeling human and building a new culture. Culture is the most powerful tool we have to build bridges between nations. Every testimony we share, every story we turn into art, is an act of resistance and opposition to violence. Let the voice of truth and art sound louder than the voice of war. War cannot subdue art because they are antagonistic forces. Art elevates, challenges the mind and heart, but war suppresses and destroys.

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“Just tell all truth”

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Once we have shared the truths, it is time for action. The Foundation for Image Synthesis presents an innovative idea where art is not only an expression but also a tool for change.

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The next step proposed by the Foundation for Image Synthesis is the “SOS Expedition” - led by the curatorial concept of Ionko Ivan, in which interactive-communicative installations “LAGER” are built, which will be located outdoors in different cities, accompanying the museum exhibition “Hunger”. While the exhibition “HUNGER” emphasizes the problem and serves as an “Alarm for alarm”, the installation “LAGER” offers a “Search for a solution” using new technologies and a model of impact on the part of the Foundation. The “HUNGER” project not only analyzes the historical topic of the Famine - Genocide in Ukraine, but also the actuality of the problem under consideration has the potential to be perceived by the public, so that the artistic-scientific model becomes a tool for conflict resolution. The interactive installation “LAGER” at “SOS Expedition” provides an opportunity to research public opinions about the conflict. Ideas are being explored among the public to establish peace. The collected data and the results of the “SOS expedition” carried out with the installation “LAGER” will serve to prepare a report with analyzes and conclusions supported by public opinions and views, in order to support the formulation of strategies for cultural development in Europe. The goal in this effort is simple - to promote the process of achieving peace.

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“So, at the end, we will tell not only my truth”.

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Yona Tukuser

Brussels, European Parliament, 22.02.2024

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