Feature: New Exhibit at The Strong Captures War in Ukraine from Children’s Perspectives

“War Toys: Ukraine” Opens November 10

by Maddie Michalik

November 7, 2023 | During a weeks-long Russian siege in Chernihiv, Ukraine last year, young child Alina and her family successfully escaped the city. On their way out, Alina remembered seeing something unexpected: a teddy bear perched in a tree. Initially, the sight struck her as humorous, but she then realized that a missile strike on a nearby apartment block had displaced the cuddly toy. Her next thought was wondering what happened to the child who loved it.

Alina’s story is one of 30 narratives that renowned photographer Brian McCarty recreated for “War Toys: Ukraine,” an art exhibit that explores the impact of armed conflict on children, opening at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to the history of play. The exhibition opens November 10 and will run through March of next year.

“Throughout history, war has impacted how we play and the toys, dolls, and games that are available to us,” said Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, curator at The Strong. “Scholars often suggest that play is a disregarded casualty of war, yet is vital to how children cope with conditions of war and to how children process complicated feelings.”

For “War Toys: Ukraine,” McCarty used artwork from Ukrainian children’s art therapy sessions to recreate their stories through toy photography. The result is a powerful showcase where the children, through their art and play, share their experiences, emotions, and perspectives with a world that often remains unaware of their suffering.

“By using toys, I hope that viewers can connect to children’s actual experiences of war without being overwhelmed by graphic accounts made to make you feel numb,” McCarty said. “I want to invite as much empathy and understanding as possible for these boys and girls in harm’s way.”

Conflict Through the Eyes of a Child
McCarty spent five weeks last summer in Ukraine working with the All Ukrainian Art Therapy Association, Integrated Art Therapy Institute, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, and local therapists to safely gather children’s firsthand accounts of war. During 90-minute group sessions, the therapists helped the kids express a story they wished to share with the world through drawings, allowing the children to share whatever they felt comfortable revealing. There was no pressure to draw anything specific.

Each photo took days to execute. At the end of each session, McCarty gathered his notes and the drawings to decide which accounts he felt he could best illustrate. After listing the necessary toys he would need for each photo, McCarty searched through bazaars, street vendors, and shops to gather them. Additional time was then dedicated to organizing, modifying, and matching the toys to children’s accounts and creating a shot list. Last, he traveled into the field — and potentially challenging or dangerous areas — aligning them with the children's narratives for the photoshoot.

The photograph titled “The Very, Very Beginning,” shows a memory from a 6-year-old girl and her brother watching cartoons when Russia had invaded Ukraine, while “Rainbow,” portrays a soldier coming home from war surrounded by a rainbow. From Barbie dolls dressed in combat gear and toy tanks knocking down a wall of construction blocks to a model airplane dropping banana-shaped candy onto a building and a dollhouse on fire, each photograph depicts a powerful, and sometimes harrowing, memory or feeling from these children.

War Toys
“War Toys: Ukraine” is not McCarty’s first time photographing toys in the context of war. While his professional background includes personal projects and commissioned work for clients like Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, the spark for the concept of “War Toys” began right after he graduated Parsons School of Design in 1996. During a one-year residency at Fabrica, a creative research center in Italy, he produced an exhibition that focused on the Vietnam era featuring an action figure narratively posed on location to recreate events described by his father in letters home to his mother.

That project was always in the back of his head until 2011, when he sought guidance of two expressive therapy experts to help develop a safe and effective method for gathering children’s firsthand accounts of war. In 2019, after creating projects in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, he founded War Toys, a nonprofit arts and media organization, to expand upon his work.

Today, War Toys is taking steps to positively impact the toy industry on a global scale. The organization is partnering with nonprofits and toy manufacturers to provide improved designs and funding molds for generic, widely distributed toy lines at no cost. Starting with the evergreen “plastic army men,” War Toys has introduced noncombatant figures, including photojournalists, frontline rescuers, and aid workers, supported by an accompanying board game that replaces traditional maps. The game comes with free lesson plans that foster awareness and understanding of the courageous individuals depicted.

“Our goal is to become a nonprofit toy company, of sorts, and develop more market-friendly products for children served by the lowest levels of the toy industry, where profit margins don’t encourage a lot of investment,” McCarty said.

War Toys-supported products are expected to begin hitting shelves in time for the next holiday season.

Building Awareness
As the first institution to host the exhibit, The Strong hopes “War Toys: Ukraine” will spread awareness for the silent struggles of children affected by conflict. The interactive exhibits will allow visitors to understand the emotional journeys of these children through the heartfelt stories and personal accounts displayed alongside each photograph.

“I think that many of us have the privilege of being able to look away from tragedy. I hope that the exhibit challenges guests to think about the power of play and to respect how children process their experiences,” Parnett-Dwyer said.

“War Toys: Ukraine” will be on display at The Strong National Museum of Play from November 10 through March 2024. Visit museumofplay.org for more information.

All photos are courtesy of The Strong.