The exhibit “Not Just a Game” by Ukrainian artist Oksana Chepelyk tells about the experience the overpowering physical and psychological pain that occur after trauma and how to transform such painful experiences into the driver of social change. It reveals to a wider audience the experiences of people with injuries and disabilities from the ATO zone, who are building new societies with their children and family. Since the war began in the Eastern Ukraine, they have become the most vulnerable social class, often being unable to receive sufficient economic, psychological and social support. However, with the help of team sports these survivors have created a positive experience in their post traumatic recovery process. Based in Dnipro, the focus subjects of the exhibition demonstrate how they have paved a new path to recovery and how they have rekindled the hope of veterans and their families. The exhibition also highlights the problem of social inclusion and lack of the world’s attention to the war in Ukraine.  

At the exhibition, you can see a documentary on post traumatic sport rehabilitation of people with disabilities and ATO veterans, an interview installation with veterans that will present you with an ethical choice, and a series of photos that feature a volleyball that plays from the floor, thus highlighting how they’ve overcome their trauma through team sports.  

The “Not Just a Game” project was implemented as part of the project called “Points of approaching”, organized by CSM (Centre for Contemporary Art) in Kharkiv and Dnipro in 2016-2017. 

Oksana Chepelyk is a Ukrainian artist, director and screenwriter. She uses various mediums, but the majority of her work addresses the art of New Media. Her early creations targeted socio-critical art, and after a while she started working with such topics as digital totalitarianism and virtual control. She has also received the Fullbright scholarship twice.