SHE is SCIENCE has got huge popularity in Ukraine and has already aroused a big interest from abroad. It is an educational art project which hosts the portrait exhibition of 12 remarkable female Ukrainian scientists around the country.
It has reached dozens of cities and villages in Ukraine and has also drawn attention to itself in Europe. The initiator of SHE is SCIENCE Sergey Tokarev proudly shares the project’s goals, achievements, and plans.
Project’s mission and achievements
SHE is SCIENCE is a relatively new project which has expanded its horizons extremely fast. The project’s organizers used a unique approach to show the young public the substantial contribution of Ukrainian female scientists to science. They came to the idea to create an art gallery with 12 heroines portraits.
As Sergey Tokarev comments, such an idea came up as an answer to the unawareness of modern Ukrainians about outstanding female scientists. Thus, the project team organized an exhibition SHE is SCIENCE with the essays of competition winners used as captions.
The process of creating the portraits was headed by Sergiy Maidukov and implemented by five famous illustrators of Ukraine.
The exhibition SHE is SCIENCE was officially opened on June 10 in Kyiv. The First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska took part in the event. Also, the project team organized a charity auction which became a great support to the essay competition winners. The money raised was aimed at covering the educational expenses of the contest winners.
In addition, Sergey Tokarev mentions the popularization of the exhibition around the country. Many Ukrainian cities could host it, and among the first were Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Mariupol, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, and Lviv. The exposition was demonstrated in more than ten cities.
Alongside the exhibition, the project organizers presented free copies of paintings to the public institutions interested in conducting the exposition in their cities and villages. According to the initiator, they have already given out more than 300 copies and decided to issue more so that school students can get inspired by the exposition.
International interest
While the SHE is SCIENCE exhibition was in the around-the-country tour, many foreign representatives got interested in hosting this creative project in their countries. Thus, the project organizers are negotiating with some countries to expand the concept of gender equality in science and demonstrate the 12 remarkable portraits of Ukrainian female scientists.
The first country SHE is SCIENCE visited was Germany, in September. The exposition was presented as part of the Days of Ukraine in Brandenburg and Berlin. Then, it will head to Brussels and be opened on October 26. The Embassy of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium will host the exhibition there.
According to Sergey Tokarev, the exposition plans to visit the Netherlands then and be demonstrated at the Hague University of Applied Sciences. Next, Great Britain will host it. Now, the project organizers arrange the dates to hold the exposition in Bulgaria.
Next year, the exhibition will be held in France. Its opening is to be in February in the hall of the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. In the same month, it will overfly the ocean and land in the US. The exhibition will be complemented with a discussion section about women in science.
Sergey Tokarev is an investor and co-founder of the technology company Roosh, an initiator of the project SHE is SCIENCE. All the events of the project are supported by the Ukrainian Embassies of Ukraine in the respective countries.