Who are you? How has your life changed after the invasion and moving to Austria?
My name is Olga Zhuk. I am an artist and designer. I work with lighting and furniture design. I moved to Graz with my kids in summer 2022 and we have been staying here since then. My kids are nine and fourteen years old. By the time we had to move here, I had a pretty good life in Kyiv. I complied to everything society expects from you. I was married, I had kids who went to school, I had a career and career plans. Shortly before the full-scale invasion, I had moved into bigger studio and was going to extend and boost my artistic activities. Due to the full-scale invasion and the moving to Graz as a result, everything broke apart. Here in Graz, we started from scratch basically.

Everyday life has also changed because it is my own responsibility now to take care of the kids, household and everything without any other support. Under these circumstances for example I can’t do art residencies because most of them do not allow you to bring your kids. It is also difficult because my kids have to go to school. Back in Ukraine, there was always somebody to support me. Back in Ukraine, my husband, who is serving for the Armed Forces of Ukraine now, and the grandparents of my children were very much involved, for example. Shortly after arrival I filled up some school forms where I had to add emergency contact in case they can’t reach me, and I literally had to leave this field blank, because I knew nobody in Graz. This is pretty scary. For the last three years, it has only been me and that’s why this kind of daily life already feels quite normal.

How often do you travel to Ukraine and why is it important for you?
In our first year in Graz, I went there just once without my kids because I was really afraid to bring them because of the war situation. There was no good reason to go there during the first one and half years because their father was on the frontline. Why would I bring kids without seeing their father? Now my husband is serving in Kyiv and we can go there to see him. Since he moved to Kyiv last year I go there with my kids every holidays.

I love to travel there because I can feel a lot of connection with Ukraine. When I go there, I am always busy because I see friends and relatives and do cosmetic procedures and doctor’s visits as well. I am always waiting get my hair done in Ukraine for example. But that’s not the reason why I go there. The main reason is my family and my husband.

What new connections did you already find in Austria?
Of course, the whole Office Ukraine Graz community, which is wonderful. I don’t know so many Austrians. For example, I have an Italian woman as friend with whom I play tennis regularly and another one from Romania but no Austrians. Neither do the kids. They stick to Ukrainian friends or expat kids. It’s really hard to enter the Austrian community.

I discovered a new connection to my artistic work as well. It changed a lot. There is now a different artistic landscape. The change of the environment changes the artistic perspective as well. It’s a very good thing for an artist to change the bubble and environment because you see absolutely different perspectives and you have new thoughts which you can express. I was very active over the first two years I was staying here. It helped me to go through and process these experiences and I felt that cultural diplomacy is really important and therefore we did a lot of projects about war. Right now, I do not feel the same because everyone gets tired at some point. Right now, I have a sabbatical period regarding my artistic career.

How do you feel about the future in Austria? Do you want to live here, do you feel connected tothe country and do you feel threatened hearing about the potential changes in residency permissions for Ukrainians?
For me, the future is connected with responsibility and this sabbatical period as a sign of delayed life because I concentrate on my kids now as my main job. Everything that is happening and will happen in the future is connected with my kids and their reaction to the situation. First, they refused to stay here but now they are getting used to it and they see their future here in Graz already. My older son wants to become an urban designer and go to HTBLVA Ortweinschule in Graz. It’s the structural engineering department. If he is admitted, we will stick to Graz for five more years.

Regarding the changes in residency permissions for Ukrainians, I registered as self-employed already and I am concentrating a lot on my design job and trying to set up a business here. I don’t know if I manage but I will try to. I went through this bureaucracy process already and I try to find out how to do it.

Even if the war is over in a few months and it is safe to go back to Ukraine, I will stick to my kids’ plans, as I said.

© The Schubidu Quartet