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UNHIDE UKRAINE

The Unhide Project (2016 - PRESENT)

BE INVISIBLE. FOR MANY THIS IS NOT A DREAM.
BUT A BITTER REALITY.

With the UNHIDE project, we are committed to children and teenagers who are overlooked and ignored by society. They have endured numerous traumatic experiences, such as the loss of a loved one or the displacement from their homes and familiar surroundings. These children and teenagers live in constant fear and uncertainty about what the future holds for them.

With UNHIDE, we provide a space where they can find solace and discover their potentials and strengths. UNHIDE gives them a voice and a platform to express themselves and their dreams creatively. It helps make their hopes and needs visible. Art and music therapy offer these young people access to their unconscious minds, for example through painting and the choice of colors. This allows their trauma to be expressed and addressed.

ART IS LIKE A LANGUAGE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS,
CONNECTS US, AND NEEDS NO RULES OR BOUNDARIES

Ukraine
Central Ukraine

Ukraine
Kyiv

Since 2022, we have regularly brought our UNHIDE creative workshop concept to Ukraine. In 2023, the decision was made to establish the UNHIDE Hub in Kyiv – a significant step to continuously offer UNHIDE workshops in collaboration with our local partner and create a HOME OF CREATIVITY for children and teenagers.

Since the start of work on the UNHIDE Hub, we have been regularly on-site, conducting workshops with children and teenagers, training the UNHIDE team in creative methods, and eagerly observing how the project, the team, and the community are coming together more and more. Until the Hub opening in mid-2025, we will continue to be actively involved, supporting the project’s progress and further enhancing the creative atmosphere.

Visit our project page UNHIDE Ukraine and check out the NEWS for exciting insights into the progress of our work and to see how the project is making remarkable strides. Together, we are creating a space full of creativity and opportunities!

With UNHIDE, a HOME OF CREATIVITY is being created in Kyiv – a place for new perspectives, communication, and regeneration.
The UNHIDE HUB will be a centrally located meeting place for children and teenagers – a space where they can discover and nurture their talents. Creative thinking and actions lead to successful experiences, boost self-confidence, reveal alternative paths, and sustainably strengthen the inner self.
The Hub will offer a wide range of activities, from art and music projects to dance and theater. Here, young people will find a space to discover and develop their creative voice. Additionally, workshops, events, and community projects will be available to further support the creative potential of the youth.

Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine

Ukraine
Avdiivka

ART NEEDS NO WORDS

In 2018, we first visited the East of Ukraine. In the frontline city of Avdiivka, near Donetsk, we were confronted with a harrowing scene: people lived there daily in fear for their existence and their lives. Together with ARTHELPS, HelpingHands, and the local children and teenagers, we brought creativity, vibrant colors, and a lot of imagination into this desolate environment. Even then, the loud sounds of bombs and gunfire were ever-present at night. Many of these children had grown up in this devastated environment and knew nothing else – they didn’t even have a pillow at night. Our goal was clear: together with the children, we created the most beautiful pillows in the world.

As early as 2018, we could hear loud bombs and gunfire at night. Many of these children had grown up in this war-ravaged environment in recent years. They knew nothing else and didn’t even have a pillow at night. So, we had one goal: We create the most beautiful pillows in the world with the children.

In the summer of 2021, we visited the frontline city of Avdiivka in Ukraine for the second time. We utilized the rooms of a vacant former school building and transformed it into a creative center – a place of freedom where everyone could freely express themselves, discover the beauty within, and gather positive experiences.
When is a girl a hero? What makes a boy a hero? Who are “they”? They are children – boys and girls living in the war-torn East Ukraine, whose daily lives are vastly different from ours.
The young heroes staged themselves and their artworks: with digital cameras in hand, they explored their surroundings, photographing and filming places that hold significance for them. The images reveal what lies within them: true HEROES.

Jordan
Amman

Jordan
Amman

MAKING HOPE VISIBLE TO THE WORLD.

UNHIDE embodies the essence of our values, showing who we are. We believe in the creative potential that resides within each individual and the connections it forges. In collaboration with ARTHELPS, we bring to light what is often hidden.

This means that if you simply try, open your mind and heart to it, you will discover that you are an artist in your own unique way.

In 2019, we were in Amman, the capital of Jordan, where we set up a transparent structure in the middle of the street and handed passing children and adolescents a pen with the task of drawing the person in front of them. “I’m not creative.” “This is for kids.” – common thoughts that turned out to be wrong, stereotypes that were shattered. In the midst of this experiment, souls found their freedom, and we, ourselves, found inspiration.

Iraq
Mosul

Iraq
Mosul

CREATIVITY MEANS FREEDOM.

The freedom to momentarily escape daily life, to explore and immerse oneself in other worlds. The freedom to be a child, to dream, far from violence, fear, and hopelessness.
SAVING AN ANGEL and ARTHELPS first joined forces in 2016 in an Iraqi refugee camp.
8430 children, 3000 tents, one goal: UNHIDE.

They live tent by tent, hut by hut, and hope for an end to the violence:
In a camp near the Iraqi city of Mosul, thousands of people reside. They have all left their homes to shield themselves from weapons and hatred. In this vast refugee shelter, the longing for safety, security, and carefree days grows, especially among the youngest.

After one year, we revisited the massive refugee shelter in Northern Iraq for the second time. In several workshops conducted, there was drawing, painting, and laughter. There were hardly any restrictions – children and adolescents could unfold themselves freely and creatively, strengthen their self-confidence, momentarily escape the daily life amidst war, hatred, and destruction, and express what’s on their hearts with colors and shapes.
The goal of the workshop was to bring color to the dreary everyday life of the Iraqi camp. Tents were creatively and imaginatively painted, giving them life and transforming a pale refugee shelter into a vibrant, joyful tent city. The result reflects the strength, courage, and joy of life of the camp residents.

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