Truth through people’s fates: Berlin hosts exhibition about Ukrainian journalists called The Only Material

A new documentary exhibition, The Only Material, has opened at the Museum of Communication in the center of Berlin. It is dedicated to Ukrainian journalists, whose work, due to russian aggression, has turned into a daily testimony of pain, loss, and unyielding resistance.

The project was initiated by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) within the Voices of Ukraine program, with the participation of the Museum of Communication and with the support of the Hannah-Arendt Initiative.

The organizers deliberately focused not on the war chronicle, but on the personal stories, thoughts, and reflections of journalists. Before us are the unique paths of professionals who, just yesterday, reported “peaceful” news to their compatriots, discussed life, and spoke about good people. But reality forced us to change our focus to documenting crimes.

The leitmotif of the exhibition: they did not choose war, but decided, risking their lives, to record its truth.

Among those whose stories are presented at the exhibition are Viktoriya Yermolayeva, Andrii Kramchenko, Oleksandr Kochura, Anna Murlykina, Polina Vernyhor, Andrii Dubchak, Yuliya Surkova, Alina Yevych, Nataliya Nahorna, and Oleh Baturin.

Ukrainian media women – Anna Murlykina, the editor-in-chief of the Mariupol website 0629, and Polina Vernyhor, a military veteran whose stories are also featured in the exhibition – delivered moving speeches. After hearing their stories, the exhibition guests cried, and strangers hugged, supporting one another.

Anna Murlykina explains her participation in the event as follows:

“Europeans often say that they are tired of Ukrainian news. But we, those who live with this reality every day, are even more tired. However, we have no right to stop. When they told me, “You can come and tell your truth to a wide range of people here in Europe,” of course, I agreed. However, we need years of systematic work to discover the truth and restore justice,” emphasizes Anna.

Dnipro TV journalist Mariya Ivanova, a guest of the exhibition, expects that this project will be able to explain a lot to Europeans.

“Although people in Europe continue to live their lives, in Germany, I constantly feel the support of ordinary people. They ask about our struggle, both the elderly and the young. They say: “How are you, how is your husband, how are the people in Dnipro?”

“It seems to me that only a United Europe will be able to stop the aggressor. Yes, this is our history, but it is also the history of all of Europe. Europeans feel this, although, of course, not in the same way as we do. But for Donald Trump, the war in Ukraine, Europe is somewhere far away. I don’t think we will reach him. Instead, together with a united Europe, we can stop the aggressor,” the media worker is convinced.

The Only Material project will soon be presented in other European countries. After all, this exhibition is not just an exposition. It is the voice of Ukraine, which, through the personal stories of journalists, speaks to the consciousness of Europe: a common Victory is the only way to a world where truth will once again become The Only Material.

Iryna Avramenko