Dr Anne Holloway, Special Collections Curator, Sir Louis Matheson Library.
The Monash University Library is hosting the exhibition, Hoping Against Hope. It will be in the Gallery until March 2025.
Hoping Against Hope explores the enduring theme of resilience in Ukrainian culture through 500 years of print publishing to explore how hope persists amidst adversity. It is a moving exhibition considering the power of storytelling in fostering hope, resistance and resilience across generations in Ukraine.
Featured in Hoping Against Hope are materials from the world-class Ada Booth Slavic Collection. The collection was established in 2011 following a multimillion-dollar benefaction from the late Ada Booth. Ada was a physicist and lecturer at the University of Melbourne with a life-long interest in Slavic Studies, left-wing politics and European history.
The exhibition also features collaborative work from across Monash University. Monash Multimedia and Design students created interactive displays and animated poetry that is read in Ukrainian and English, including a reading by musician, actor and writer Nick Cave of a poem by prominent Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan. We also feature work from Naarm-based artist of Ukrainian descent Christy Chudosnik, and a display from Classroom Without Walls students from Ukraine, Myanmar and Afghanistan.
To find out more visit the library exhibits website.