There is nothing more poignant than an image of a garden partially destroyed by tanks or missiles with flowers still blooming amid the chaos. At the height of the current conflict in Ukraine in 2022, the people of Kyiv fled the city to relatives or to their dachas in the countryside, only to find that these villages were also being targeted, some occupied by Russian troops. Photographer Sergii Polezhaka began a personal mission to document the war-torn gardens in the villages around Kyiv, taking thousands of photographs over the past four years. The gardens, which he visited soon after the short period of Russian occupation in 2022, and has revisited since, are springing back to life, each one with its own story of survival and hope.
The image of an abandoned tank in the middle of a market garden near Kyiv is incredibly powerful. The landowner returned to reclaim his home after the Russians retreated, and now neat rows of vegetables surround the tank. ‘The authorities offered to come and remove the tank but the garden owner refused, because he didn’t want his crops disrupted,’ says Sergii. In another image, beautiful cherry trees flower in Kyoto Park on the outskirts of Kyiv above a network of barbed wire, metal tank defences and trenches dug by Ukrainian soldiers. ‘This was a heavily armed defence line to stop Russians breaking through into the city,’ says Sergii, pointing out that the trenches are carefully arranged around the roots of the trees to preserve them. ‘Someone knew about these trees and really cared about them,’ he says.
Each of his photographs has a poignant backstory. In one, a collection of glass pickle jars is lined up in the corner of a garden. Normally stored in the cellar, they have undoubtedly been brought outside to make room for the family to shelter during air raids. Known as the ‘breadbasket’ of Europe for its fertile, black soil, Ukraine has a strong tradition of growing food on a domestic level, and most gardens have food crops that will be preserved for winter use. Another photograph shows a pile of pumpkins along a road, put out for neighbours to share. ‘People still think back to the Great Famine of the 1930s so you don’t waste food here,’ says Sergii. ‘People are resourceful. They think of their communities.’
Showing these beautiful and moving images for the first time, Sergii will be in conversation with Clare Foster at the Garden Museum on May 26th, joined by garden designer Camellia Taylor, whose dissertation explores how gardening and relationships with land function during times of conflict. Sergii says: ‘In my project, these places transform from a voiceless background into the main subject. It’s a collective portrait of Ukrainian society, bearing visible scars from past traumas such as the Great Ukrainian Famine or centuries of being deprived of the right to private property. The aftermath of these experiences now echoes in the ways Ukrainians share food with strangers in their destroyed villages, begin demining fields before the battle dust settles, or refuse to leave their homes and gardens.’
His photographs tell the story of a resilient nation and the hope of new life. In Ukraine, where the words land, soil, country, and place are all expressed by the same word - zemlya - these gardens can offer a new lens through which to view - and perhaps better understand - the ongoing war.
Ukrainian Gardens in Wartime, an illustrated talk, takes place at the Garden Museum on May 26th at 7pm, and will also be live-streamed. Book tickets here.
