After the stages in Livorno and Pisa, in March 2026 the ‘Guardiane della Vita 4.5.0′ project also arrived in Milan, bringing to the centre of the debate not only the armed conflict, but the daily work of those who, far from the spotlight, save lives just a few metres from the front line.

The project, conceived and curated by Yuliya Faccin, is a photographic exhibition that tells the stories of the volunteer paramedics of the Hospitallers organisation, engaged in medical evacuations in combat zones. Through images and direct testimonies, it constructs a narrative that combines art and documentation, restoring a profoundly human dimension of war.

At the Collegio di Milano, the exhibition and conference created a space for confrontation between direct testimony, cultural analysis and European responsibility. Alongside the curator, Tetiana Romaniuk – nom de guerre Rudi, evacuation doctor and protagonist of the project, who arrived directly from the front, spoke.

The presence of speakers such as Oleksandra Matviichuk and Yaryna Grusha further broadened the perspective, transforming the event into a moment of insight into war, human rights and the role of culture in the contemporary European context.

Hello Yuliya, nice to see you again. What was the significance of bringing the project to Milan?

After Pisa and Livorno, the relocation of the project to Milan – thanks to the invitation of the Collegio di Milano – was not only a geographical shift, but a move to another cultural level. In Milan, the project enters the space of the great European artistic discourse, where art is read through ethics and social responsibility. It is also a change of ‘tone’ – from a local perception to an international dialogue with students from different countries.

What was the value of Oleksandra Matviichuk’s participation?

The participation of Oleksandra Matviichuk adds intellectual and moral weight to the project. Her presence shifts the focus from the emotional perception of war to the structural understanding of human rights, the responsibility of the world and the legal dimension of crimes. In fact, it confirms the importance of turning art into a form of testimony that has consequences. And, of course, Oleksandra’s powerful phrase: ‘Ukrainianwomen are not victims; Ukrainian women are fighters‘ set the tone for the entire evening.

What did the presence of Tetiana ‘Rudi’ Romaniuk represent?

The presence of Tetiana ‘Rudi’ Romaniuk functions as a moment of radical concretisation. She is no longer an image or an interpretation, but a real person embodying the experience within the artistic space. Her presence breaks the distance between ‘spectator’ and ‘event’, forcing one to rethink the very nature of the exhibition as a place of encounter and not merely observation.

How much does the audience’s perception change when, next to the images, they meet a real protagonist of the exhibition?

When you meet a person who has come from the front and then goes back to where the war continues, the very perception of reality changes.

Tetiana said that, in the breaks between evacuations of the wounded and the fallen, she creates fantastic mosaics with fragments of destroyed Ukrainian monuments – like pieces of recomposed memory. She says she has nothing left to inherit: her grandparents’ house is under occupation. And the only thing she can pass on to her future children are these mosaics, in which ancient Ukrainian symbols and ornaments are encoded. She adds softly: ‘if I survive’.

And that is precisely when the breaking point occurred.

I saw the eyes of the young people listening to his story: at that moment, war stopped being a theme or an image, it stopped being an object, and became a subject ‘ through the living presence of a single concrete existence.

Incidentally, one of the mosaics Tetiana left in Italy. Our goal is to find a benefactor or auction where this work will be sold, and all funds will be transferred directly to the official ‘Hospitallers’ fund. These resources will be used to cover medical expenses and protection supplies for the volunteer doctors and paramedics at the front.

How can events like this also turn into concrete support for Hospitallers?

This kind of event is important because it shows everyone how to turn emotion into action: if such a fragile girl makes such strong gestures, what can I do?

In this way, there is a gradual move towards solidarity that becomes trust and then the search for concrete aid – financial, medical, partnership, long-term focus on this issue. It is no longer just about charity, but a position that affects concrete destinies.

In the dialogue between audience and speakers, and in the reflection on the content of the project, a strong common awareness of personal responsibility crystallises, which – without rhetoric – can affect matters of life and death.

What is the main message this stage has left for the European public?

The main message to European audiences through the project is that choosing one’s direction, finding one’s values, honour and responsibility is not easy, but that is where a force capable of changing the world lies.

And furthermore, that art in our fragmented reality can perform the function of an ethical tool: every single story contains a whole war, every fragment – a whole culture, every personal encounter – a reflection of the global experience. And at the same time, in each fragment exists the possibility of reconstruction of the whole.

And each of us, through action, becomes a Guardian: of Life, of Meaning and, finally, of Victory.

Yuliya Faccin, author and curator of the project ‘Guardians of Life 4.5.0’, art historian.