19 3/16 x 27 inches
“What about the children?”
Showcasing storybooks, scouting uniforms, letters, toys and more, the exhibition The Little War —opened in early 2024 at the National WWI Museum and Memorial — explores in-depth the answer to that question for children during World War I. Though over a century has passed since the War to End all Wars, conflict and war remain a reality for many children across the globe.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. UNICEF estimates there are 5.2 million Ukrainian children in need of urgent assistance. A new exhibition at the Museum and Memorial, War Toys: Ukraine, which opened on Oct. 5, 2024, showcases the impact of war on today’s children.
Internationally recognized photographer Brian McCarty collaborates with specialized therapists and children who have been affected by conflict on a unique project titled War Toys, which is now active in and near Ukraine. The project invokes principles of expressive art therapy to safely gather and articulate children’s accounts of warfare.
Children often share their experiences and emotions through indirect methods of communication such as art and play. As a result, their personal accounts of war frequently go unseen and unheard by the international community. War Toys: Ukraine draws attention to individual children and communities affected by the war. War Toys: Ukraine is a traveling exhibition and a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance with Missouri Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts.
Viewers of War Toys: Ukraine will see 12 of the children’s drawings presented alongside McCarty’s photographs. In the process of sharing their artwork, children would often reveal the details that were most important or impactful to them, but bury some other elements as if to protect them. The viewers’ eyes will move back and forth from McCarty’s works to the children’s drawings, recognizing the similarities and differences, but most importantly, reading between the lines.
“After a decade of fieldwork and research devoted to centering the voices and experiences of children affected by war, we know that the cost of conflict is too high and is paid, not in capital, but in the lives, mental health, and well-being of generations of children.”
— Brian McCarty
War Toys: Ukraine is on view through Jan. 5, 2025. To learn more about War Toys: Ukraine and The Little War, visit theworldwar.org.
