Fairy tales and war combine in exhibition

FOLKLORE, fairy tales and traditional stories are the focus of an exhibition by Catherine Ratcliffe at Backspace.

Titled Kazka, the show looks at family experiences and connections and how folk stories can affect understanding of the world.

The name of the exhibition comes from the Ukrainian word for folklore or fairy tales, and its timing coincides with the anniversary of the start of the 2014 and 2022 conflicts in the country.

“The inspiration was the early stories coming through the Ukrainian war,” said Ratcliffe.

“I saw this old lady, or baba, and it reminded me of my own baba and she was there defending her house with a rifle.

“It was showing such resilience, and I was like where has this come from?”

Ratcliffe, who has Ukrainian heritage, began to wonder if traditional stories affected these attitudes.

“I read a few articles talking about their heritage and Russian Heritage and they were different ends of the spectrum,” she said.

“The Ukrainian was more about making your own path, so I thought let’s look at their fairy tales because I wondered if that’s where my stubbornness came from.”

Ratcliffe said she hopes people to see the exhibition think about stories which have been passed down to them.

“I hope people look at their own personal story and how it possibly has shaped them or how they are a product of our contemporary surrounds,” she said.

“There’s more to it than stories just passed down to shape people, it’s almost a DNA sort of thing.”

Kazka is open now until Sunday 3 March at Backspace behind the Art Galley of Ballarat.