City of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico: Ioulia Akhmadeeva, 2024. Hardcover. Number 3 of 5 copies. A powerful new work by Russian born artist, Ioulia Akhmadeeva about the atrocities occurring in the ongoing war in Ukraine. She has both Ukrainian and Russian heritage and makes visual comparisons between the current war and prior wars in the region with inclusions of personal relics, photographs, and familial memories. Each book / box contains a different object and photograph. This copy includes a personal object - a pin of VLKSM (Komsomol - a communist youth organization) and a personal photograph of the artist from when she lived in Russia, studied art at the Art College in her hometown of Krasnodar, and was a member of this organization (1986 - 1990), just before the USSR dissolved and with it the Komsomol organization. "In the dark corner of history, between 1941 and 1945 (Great Patriotic War in the USSR) and now since 2022, Ukraine and Russia are involved in a brutal war that leaves indelible scars on their land and lives of those who inhabit them. The harsh reality of the conflict is intertwined in the book with the family stories that lie behind each photographic image-testimony from one's own family album, old photographs or current images on the internet. It is also a journey to the heart of everyday life, intertwining personal experiences with the collective history of my native country, which no longer exists. In "Witnesses and Testimonies" the images of the war before and now coexist with my family photographs, and the treasured objects stand as silent witnesses of an era. These objects, more than simple artifacts, are fragments of identity and have their own history, a narrative that speaks both about society and the people who owned them. Each one becomes a portal-connector with the past. These objects, carefully preserved over time, are more than mere witnesses; they are silent narrators of everyday life that persists even in the midst of any war. Wars not only destroy lives, but also the memories. The pages of photographic albums and everyday objects become collateral victims of conflicts that irreversibly alter the previous life. I try to reflect on what remains after us: the sewing thimble, a knitted collar, a fork, an empty matchbox or a wad of bills that witnessed another era. Both photographs and objects are keepers of stories, bearers of identities and silent witnesses of time lost but not forgotten" (artist statement). Bound in brown cloth with Japanese stab binding and paper title label to front board. A series of photogravures printed on Kozo paper with rubber stamp texts. The book, the pin, an original photograph of the artist, and an envelope containing five inkjet print cards of the authors drawings of sentimental objects with information about the book in Spanish and English are all housed in a custom box. The box is covered in matching brown cloth with paper title label to front panel. [20 pages]. Ioulia Akhmadeeva (1971 - ) was born in Russia but has resided in Mexico for nearly 30 years. She is professor of Fine Arts at the Michoacan State University San Nicolás Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She has participated in many international exhibitions and won awards and grants for her work. ARTB/030424. Fine. More