War and Art: Ukrainian Art Blooming on Wounds — War and Art: Ukraine, Art Blooming on Its Wounds
On the scars of war, a ballerina’s movements come alive and a choir’s voices ring out. Photographer Kish Kim found in Kyiv, Ukraine, the power of art to join life back together.
Photos * Kish Kim * Kish Kim has photographed scenes of conflict and armed struggle, starting with protests in South Korea in 1989 and continuing through the 9/11 attacks in New York, the war in Afghanistan, and anti-government protests in Egypt. His photographs have appeared in publications such as ‘Science,’ ‘Time,’ ‘Newsweek,’ and ‘Der Spiegel,’ and he has published photobooks including ‘Gaza War, Walls of a Labyrinth.’ He currently works as a photographer while serving as a professor in the Department of Multi-Design at Kangwon National University. Last September, he held a solo exhibition, ‘War and Art: Ukraine, Art Blooming on Wounds.’
On July 9 and 10, 2025, Ukraine endured the largest aerial attacks since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. At least 750 drones and missiles struck on the 9th, and at least 400 more on the 10th.Smoke from the shelling rises over central Kyiv the morning after a night of massive air raids.The wrecked interior parts of a destroyed Russian armored vehicle looked like a screaming face and twisted limbs.
In July 2025, I went back to Ukraine. It was my third visit. The war still had not ended, and in the capital, Kyiv, air-raid sirens and explosions sounded almost every day. Smoke from fires rose from all over the city. When the raids ended, people came out of the shelters and returned to their daily lives. Tired bodies, eyes touched by fear, faces marked by sorrow. But when they enjoyed art, their expressions and their eyes were unmistakably different.
A child in a yoga class at a private school’s summer school on the outskirts of Kyiv.Students paint with fruit juice in an art class at a private school on the outskirts of Kyiv.Bloodstains remain in a Kyiv home where people were seriously injured in a drone attack.Ballerinas and danseurs of the National Ballet of Ukraine rehearse before a performance. The company ranks among the world’s best in tradition and skill, and today it is far more than an arts organization: it has become a symbol of national identity, resistance, and hope.
Here, art was not a mere hobby or entertainment. It was a time to escape fear and catch one’s breath, and a force that held people up together. Paintings on collapsed walls hid the city’s wounds, and the music and dance in the squares gave people a moment of calm. Children regained their laughter painting with fruit juice, and opera singers returned to the stage the moment the air-raid alert ended and carried on singing. Their movements, songs, and paintings held the power to restore themselves and comfort one another. They were a gesture that said, “We will not let go of life.” Even when war halts life, art became the link that joins it together again.
The Irpin Central House of Culture, destroyed by a Russian missile attack early in the war.At a poetry reading in memory of fallen soldiers, a poet-mother reads in honor of her two sons (pictured), both killed in action.The Irpin Central House of Culture, destroyed by a Russian missile attack early in the war.
I saw war, but I also saw life. In places where drones, missiles, and anti-aircraft fire fly overhead, I photographed laughter that had been protected, color blooming on collapsed buildings, and songs and dances that rang out through nights of despair. As I took pictures, I asked myself, “What does art mean in the midst of war?” And then I realized something. While I was with them, I too had completely forgotten the fear of war and the fatigue of shooting.
A rehearsal of a Kyiv community choir made up of local residents.Children playing traditional folk games in a park.A memorial space for fallen soldiers set up in Independence Square in Kyiv. No official casualty count has been released for the Russia-Ukraine war, now nearly four years old. But according to analyses by major news outlets and Western intelligence agencies, combined casualties on both sides are estimated to exceed 1.3 million.A memorial space for fallen soldiers set up in Independence Square in Kyiv.A boy looks down into the orchestra pit before a performance by the National Opera of Ukraine.Backstage before a performance by the National Ballet of Ukraine.The Independence Monument of Ukraine in Kyiv at sunset.Danielle Zayushkina, vocalist of the indie rock band Vivienne Mort, formed in 2007, performing.Elderly people dancing for exercise in a park.A young Ukrainian man skateboarding in a square. Ukraine is currently under martial law because of the war, and men aged 18 to 60 are subject to conscription.A young man pays tribute to fallen soldiers at the memorial space in Independence Square in Kyiv.Electricians cut the power at a home in Kyiv where people were seriously injured in a drone attack.A community art gathering in Kyiv.A prima donna of the National Opera of Ukraine applies her makeup before a performance.A ballerina and a male dancer from the National Ballet of Ukraine, a couple, share a kiss before a performance.An intermission during a performance by the National Opera of Ukraine.A resident photographs the Kyiv skyline alongside sunflowers, a symbol of Ukraine.Sunflowers, a symbol of Ukraine, painted by American artist Trek Thunder Kelly on wrecked cars near Irpin early in the war.