Ukrainian Gardens in Wartime

At the height of the war around Kyiv in 2022, photographer Sergii Polezhaka began documenting war-torn gardens – an abandoned tank amid neat rows of vegetables; cherry blossom trees with trenches dug around their roots to preserve them; a tended rose garden beside a bombed ruin.

These images tell the story of a resilient nation. In Ukraine, the words land, soil, country and place share a single word – zemlya – and these gardens offer a powerful new lens through which to understand the ongoing war. Garden designer Camellia Taylor made this the subject of her dissertation, exploring our relationship with gardens and landscapes in times of conflict.

Sergii and Camellia join Clare Foster in conversation to share Sergii’s haunting images and to discuss the experience of living – and gardening – through the conflict.

25% of ticket sales will be donated to the Memory Garden, on the grounds of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine in Pyrohiv for those who have lost loved ones in the war.