art

Valkova Liudmila

On the Condition of Russian-speaking Women in Exile and Within the Patriarchal System

2025

Today, I want to speak about a subject that has long been silenced — and one I believe must be addressed on an international feminist platform

I am looking for a feminist community in Argentina that is willing to support my project "Protection of Women in Migration" - women who may face violence during immigration, women who find themselves in extremely difficult situations in their families and live in a state of insecurity. I want to draw the attention of the global community to this issue: migrant women need special protection because we never know what cultural code awaits them in another country. Women arrive with their families, adhering to their own cultural norms, which may be completely unfamiliar in their new home. You may see a smiling woman on the street and assume that everything is fine in her home, but you have no idea what kind of hell she may be living in. In many countries, women are still subjected to physical and emotional abuse at home. Through migration, a woman can realize this by comparing herself to free women, such as in Argentina, a country that I deeply respect and believe can change the way women are treated in families. I encourage women around the world to respect and appreciate Argentina as a country that can unlock women's potential and prove that women can be truly free.

As a Russian woman, I now consider myself half-Argentine and deeply appreciate what this country has given me. It opened up abilities in me that I didn't know I had, and it showed me freedoms that I had been deprived of in my home country. I want migrant women to know that they are not alone - they are connected to others. If your cultural code is oppressing you, if you have faced discrimination, disrespect, or any form of violence in your family, there is no place for it in this world. I want to draw attention to this issue around the world, and I believe that Argentina is one of those countries that can truly help women redefine their feminist agenda. I want to represent both my homeland and Argentina and say that change is possible. If you find yourself in a critical situation, speak up, whether anonymously or loudly. Women in my country often fear the truth, punishment, or judgment for their "failure" to maintain their families. But a woman does not have to endure. Let's change this world and support women's rights through love.

Berlin 2025 open call

"I have worked with women all my life, and for the past six years, I’ve focused on issues of violence and women’s rights violations. I’ve endured many difficult experiences, and my previous exhibitions have been dedicated to them. I truly find joy in speaking openly about the emotions and struggles we face in life. For the past few years, I’ve lived in Buenos Aires, working with women in emigration. My professional experience and personal hardships have led me to explore the theme of patriarchy—a subject I want to discuss more actively while moving toward tangible support for women, especially now, as the problem has grown even more urgent. Women who left for emigration with their partners now find themselves far from their loved ones, and what happens within families often stays behind closed doors."

With this exhibition, I want to share my story—one that may become a source of strength for other women. At its core lies the universal problem of patriarchy, both in Russia and beyond. If you take this issue, place it before you like a foundation, and lean on it, it can become your support, helping you move forward.

I invite everyone to join me in discussing this problem. Because I have faced my own—and now it no longer holds me back. This struggle has become my foundation, something I can share with you to offer strength and remind you that *you*—yes, you—are the most important person in this life.

My exhibition also tells a story of love. Love can become a second skin, which is why I’ve printed it on fabric. You can wear this or any other love story like armor: wrap yourself in it, hide within it, let it protect you, nurture something beautiful like a flower. Let it be fragile, yet let it remind you of your heartbeat, your aliveness.

This exhibition is an improvisation on the moment when patriarchy becomes a problem you can set down and sit upon—because it no longer confines you. And love, in turn, gives you shelter, the freedom to soar and shine. *You are the sun.*

Let the weight of patriarchy become your foundation, so your love and strength may rise.

This is the story of Russian women. Women who are taught from childhood to serve and endure. Women who carry everything on their shoulders: household responsibilities, children, emotional labor, family expectations — and silence. Women who give birth young, without knowing themselves, without being allowed to choose. Women who are not given the space to simply be.
This is about psychological and emotional abuse that has become normalized. Abuse that leaves no physical marks, but deeply wounds the soul and silently destroys lives. What’s even more dangerous is that some men, especially those with narcissistic tendencies, use their knowledge of psychology to manipulate and control their partners, turning a woman’s strength into her vulnerability.
This problem becomes even more severe in exile. Women are often left alone with children in a foreign country — without support, without language, without rights. Divorce becomes impossible. And if it happens, they risk losing their children. They are blamed, judged as “inadequate.” They are left to suffer while dominant men continue to decide how, when, and if a woman can live, speak, grieve, breathe.
I speak from personal experience. I am going through a divorce, living in exile, and I have faced situations where I was denied the right to say goodbye to my father. I’ve seen how men assume they have the authority to determine what a woman can or cannot do — simply because of their gender. This is not just my story. It is a widespread cultural trauma. And it must be addressed.
Russian-speaking women in exile are in urgent need of psychological, legal, emotional, and community support. We must talk about this openly. I am raising this issue here, on neutral ground, because I know it is not safe to speak openly about it in the Russian Federation. But to remain silent is to betray those who can no longer speak.
I believe we can change this system. I believe there are men who truly want to support women, but it will require deep re-education, responsibility, and the courage to question inherited values. The first step is truth. And the truth lies in women's voices, in their pain, in their stories — and today, in my voice too.

You are the sun

Let these love stories and illustrations, printed on fabric, become your second skin—a wearable embrace, a shield of tenderness. May this cloth protect you, and may the love imbued within it soothe your wounds, helping them heal beneath its gentle shelter.

"This Happened in Buenos Aires
For five years, she had the same dream.
She lived with a man who didn’t love her, yet she kept fixing the relationship—for the sake of their child, for the fragile hope that maybe, somehow, things could still be mended.
She believed until the very last second, giving chance after chance, because her heart was devoted to the very idea of love....."

Valkovaliudmilaba@gmail.com