Giving children a voice is at the heart of a haunting display of global violence and its impact on the youngest victims – and their “suffering goes to the very heart of our humanity” says award-winning war artist Arabella Dorman.
An internationally renowned artist and one of Britain’s leading portrait painters, Dorman was opening the Child of War exhibition on May 22 of her work and that of the children who live and die in war.
AEJ UK treasurer David Worsfold has this report.
Children on the front line
War artist Arabella Dorman called for more to be done to protect children caught up in war and conflict when she launched her exhibition Child of War at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London.
Her powerful images, together with children’s paintings and the artifacts of war that make up the exhibition, present a grim picture of the suffering of children caught up in conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East and elsewhere: “In modern conflict children stand on the frontline … but it is not just about the trauma children suffer in war but also about the long term effects of that violence”, said Dorman.
“The suffering of children of children in war goes to the very heart of our humanity. It is time to heed that pain and act”.
She said the children’s paintings “offer a ray of hope”
“Children have this innate sense of dignity and strength … They dare to hope.”
The implications of the lasting impact on children were highlighted by Edna Fernandes, co-founder of the charity Beyond Conflict, which is promoting the exhibition.
“Children can be condemned to repeat the cycle of horror they have experienced. This danger will reverberate through their lives and possibly be handed on to their own children.
“How can you rebuild peace if so many children are damaged in this way?”, she asked.
She called for tougher international action to safeguard children in war: “It almost seems that the targeting of children has become acceptable”.
Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Great Britain, said being moved by the images of suffering is not enough: “It should not remain at the emotional stage but it should make us ask what else we in the UK can do to help these children.”
He said the UK had a proud record of welcoming people and highlighted the 220,000 plus visas issued under the Homes for Ukraine scheme: “This should be an example of best practice of how we can welcome strangers to the country.”
Dorman visited the area around Bucha, scene of some of the worst atrocities committed by the Russian forces during their initial assault on Kyiv in the spring of 2022, collecting stories from children which she has represented in many of her paintings. In addition, she brought back some of the lethal shards of shrapnel from a school in Hostomel, together with a collection of children’s shoes just abandoned in a classroom as the shells rained down and which now feature as part of the exhibition.
Bishop Nowakowski had also recently returned from a visit to Ukraine and said he came back with a message for everyone in the UK: “When you go back tell people about us. Pray for us. And when we are no longer in the headlines do not forget us”.
• Child of War is on at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 21 Binney Street, London W1K 5BQ until 6 June and will move to Berlin before returning to various locations in the UK.
Arabella Dorman has painted members of the Royal family, senior military personnel and other high profile individuals and is an officially accredited British war artist who has worked across the Middle-East since 2006. She has been embedded with the British Army in Iraq (2006) and Afghanistan (2009 – 2013). Her humanitarian work has taken her to Gaza, Palestine & Israel (2017) Lebanon, Syria (2018) and most recently, Ukraine (2023).
https://www.arabelladorman.com
