I woke up in my Kyiv apartment in the early morning of February 24, 2022, to the sound of explosions, and I immediately understood that the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine had begun. The next day, we moved to the village of Vyhraiv in Cherkasy Oblast, 130 km from Kyiv. After three months of evacuation, we returned home.
War Diary is mostly not about external events, but about the inner state and human feelings in the midst of war.
War Diary is not only about trying to survive and protect loved ones, but also about keeping the essence of human beings.
Artemova’s work has been exhibited widely at galleries and festivals in Europe and the United States. Her photography has been shown more recently at Semperdepot, Vienna (2019), Centre of Contemporary Art, Toruń, Poland (2020), Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv (2021), and YermilovCentre of Contemporary Art, Kharkiv, Ukraine (2021). In 2022, Artemova’s work appeared at the Images Vevey festival in Switzerland, Vizura Zagreb Biennial, and Künstlerhaus, Vienna. In 2023 her works were exhibited at V&A Museum, London, UK, and Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Awards Artemova has been commended or shortlisted for a number of prizes, including the International Photography Awards (2008), Sony World Photography Awards (2010), and the Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award (2015).
In 2023 Artemova was nominated on Prix Pictet.
