“There is something in the basement…”
That’s what people say in horror films when they hear a noise.
This one is about history — the kind that somehow revolves around men. Women tend to go missing there. So I decided to bring them back by carving their stories.
They jump out of the box like a child’s toy — except they return on their own terms. And they’re not exactly here to comfort you. Because really, what’s more unsettling than powerful, intelligent women you tried so hard to keep hidden?
Sofia Yablonska was a first Urainian writer, journalist, and photographer who traveled across Asia, Africa, and
South America in the 1930s, documenting cultures, landscapes, and everyday life that few Europeans had seen. At that time, locals
refused to be plotographed, and very few
photographers could manage it but she did.
Solomia Pavlychko was one of the most important Ukrainian intellectuals of the 1990s and a respected leader of the Urainian intelligentsia. She introduced feminist ideas to Ukrainian culture, reshaping views on literature, gender, and identity. She was also the first to translate major fareign authors into Ukrainian, and co-founded the influential independent publisher Osnovy, bringing global literary and philosophical works to Ukrainian readers.
Natalia Kobrynska was a Ukrainian Writer and the mother of Ukrainian feminism, who in the late 19th century founded the first women's organization in Ukraine and initiated the first women's literary almanac.
At a time when women were excluded from public and political life, she not only created a space for their voices but alto influenced social and political change by advocating for women's education, rights, and participation in society.
Olena Pchilka was a Ukrainian Writer and
cultural activist who shaped modern
Ukrainian culture. As part of the Old Gromada, she joined a small group that went to Saint Petersburg and pushed to lift the Ems Ukaz, which banned the Ukrainian
language. She published a collection of
Ukrainian folk ornaments, treating them as a foundation of national culture, and while traveling to collect them, she worked with local communities, spreading cultural and political ideas.
Khrystyna Alchevska was a Ukrainian educator and social activist who transformed education in the 19th century. She founded and led schools that became models for progressive education, promoted literacy, and played a high role in educating over 17,000 women in her Sunday schools. Through this education, they became less dependent on men and were able to shape their own futures, influencing generations of educators and reformers.
