Unissued Diplomas Exhibitions in Communities Beyond the Capital
Following its exhibition at the University of Iceland earlier this year, the global memorial exhibition Unissued Diplomas: Never Graduated, Eternally Honoured is now being brought to communities beyond the capital region through partnerships in Höfn and Akureyri.
GRÓ Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GRÓ GEST), in collaboration with the University of Iceland Ukraine Project, partnered with Menningarmiðstöð Hornafjarðar in Höfn and the University of Akureyri to present the exhibition in eastern and northern Iceland, expanding access to this important initiative and creating space for remembrance and solidarity across the country.
The exhibition opened in Höfn yesterday on 18 May and today, 19 May, at the University of Akureyri Library, where it will remain on display until 2 June.
Unissued Diplomas is a global exhibition honouring the memory of 40 Ukrainian students who will never graduate, as their lives were taken following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Launched in 2023, the exhibition shares the stories of young lives cut short, transforming symbols of education into powerful memorials. Organized by Ukrainian students and volunteers, the initiative presents symbolic, unfinished diplomas to honour lost potential, highlight the human cost of war, and remind the world that the conflict continues, and that Ukrainians continue to pay its price every day in their struggle for freedom.
The exhibition holds particular significance for GRÓ GEST through the involvement of Daryna Zavhorodnia, a current GRÓ GEST student and one of the initiators and organizers of the exhibition, which has now been presented at universities and museums in more than forty countries. Daryna introduced the exhibition at the opening in both Höfn and Akureyri.
The 40 diplomas, originally in Ukrainian, are presented in Icelandic and English translation.
By bringing the exhibition to communities outside the capital area, GRÓ GEST and its partners hope to broaden engagement with the stories behind the memorial and create opportunities for reflection, solidarity, and dialogue in different parts of Iceland.
All are welcome to visit the exhibition and stand in remembrance.
