Ljubljana - Works by Ukrainian artists who have stayed in Ukraine or left when the war broke out are on show and up for sale at ZRC Atrium in Ljubljana as part of the In Ukraine/Out of Ukraine exhibition until the end of June. The works are accompanied by photos and multimedia telling a story about Ukraine through the images of war and beyond them.

Part of the proceeds from the sale will go to the artists to support them and their work and part will be provided for direct humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

The exhibition is based on the idea of the In Ukraine exhibition that was on show at the Gallery at Dobbin Mews in New York until 9 May.

Its curators Fred Ritchin and Ira Lupu said that the idea was to present a context for understanding Ukrainian culture that goes beyond the reflection of war.

The Ljubljana exhibition brings works by the Ukrainian women artists living in Slovenia to present their experience of the aggression against Ukraine through art.

The works made by the artists who are still in Ukraine are presented through video screenings.

The initiative for these works came from Ana Miklashevich, a Ukrainian painter who moved to Slovenia a few years ago. After the outbreak of war, she started working with the Ukrainian women artists here, encouraging them to create.

Slovenian curator Manca Juvan also added to the show the photographs Slovenian photographer Jure Eržen took as he went to Ukraine soon after the Russian aggression started.

Juvan said the exhibition "expands the currently dominant narrative about Ukraine that we see in the usual daily media coverage".

Being offered a space to express their own experience or perspective allows Ukrainian artists to take part in the public discourse, she added.

One of the participating artists from Kyiv entitled her painting Pain, having made it when the Ukrainian army liberated the town of Bucha.

"The work testifies about the pain and suffering of the souls of those who were brutally killed, raped and tortured," Victoria Kovalcuk says about her work.

The exhibition opened on 20 June to mark World Refugee Day. It is a collaboration of the APIS Institute, the Science and Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), the Ukrainian community and partners.