The Clock of War: Ukrainian Photo Exhibition at UNION Basel, June 2026

Photo exhibition: The Clock of War in Union Basel

From 10 to 28 June 2026, UNION Basel will host The Clock of War, a photo exhibition based on the Ukrainian Photo Diary project. The exhibition presents a curated selection of photographic works documenting the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on civilian life.

The main organiser is Swiss photographer Patrick Lüthy, founder of the Ukrainian Photo Diary project. Kozak Buvette supports the organisation of the exhibition in Basel.

Vernissage

Saturday, June 13, 2026 — 17:00

• Opening speech by the exhibition organizers 
• Apéro by Kozak Buvette 
• Violin and piano concert by Ukrainian artists Luba Ogorodnuchyk and Bohdan Palyliulko 

The program is still being finalized by the organizers.

Exhibition Information

Location: UNION Basel, Klybeckstrasse 95, Basel
Dates: June 10 – June 28, 2026

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: 12:00 – 18:00
Friday – Sunday: 12:00 – 20:00

The supporting program is still being finalized by the organizers.

About the project

Ukrainian Photo Diary is a Swiss-Ukrainian documentary project that has been collecting, archiving, and publicly sharing visual testimonies from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. The online archive has existed since November 2022 and includes photographs, videos, and journalistic materials documenting changes in the everyday lives of Ukrainian civilians during the war.

The project was initiated in 2022 by Patrick Lüthy. During the evacuation of Ukrainian war refugees to Switzerland, which he accompanied alongside other photographers and volunteers, the idea of an open photographic diary emerged. Since then, the archive has continued to grow and expand. The platform presents works by professional photographers as well as images by children and private individuals. From this extensive archive, the travelling exhibition The Clock of War was developed at the end of 2022.

Exhibition concept

The exhibition is based on the metaphor of a clock and explores twelve central forms of loss experienced by the Ukrainian population as a result of the war. Rather than focusing on single events, it reflects the gradual transformation of everyday life: the loss of safety, routines, relationships, identity, and cultural heritage.

Each of the twelve thematic chapters is represented by two photographic collages, composed from the Ukrainian Photo Diary archive, which transform documentary images into visually and emotionally structured narratives.

The exhibition is both a historical document and a curatorial reflection of lived reality. It invites visitors to engage with the consequences of war not as an abstraction, but as a concrete human experience.

Goals of the exhibition

The exhibition pursues three main goals: raising public awareness of humanitarian and cultural losses in Ukraine; creating a visual historical document of the war; and supporting Ukrainian civilians through donations collected during the exhibition.

All funds are donated exclusively to civilians affected by the war. The project is volunteer-based, all materials are provided free of charge, and admission is free.

Image use notice

All photographs were provided by Ukrainian Photo Diary. The images may be used exclusively for editorial coverage of the exhibition The Clock of War, limited in scope and time to reporting directly related to the above-mentioned exhibition.

Any further use is strictly prohibited — including storage in editorial or media archives, inclusion in image databases, reuse in future publications without direct reference to the exhibition, or any form of commercial use without prior written permission. All image rights remain fully with the respective photographers of the Ukrainian Photo Diary.

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