The event was a targeted fundraiser for the soldiers who were wounded in the fighting in the Donbas. “The Life-Saving Art” exhibition has brought together 50 photos of soldiers and works by famous Ukrainian artists. Artists, including such well-known names as Zhanna Kadyrova, Arsen Savadov, Oleh Tistol, Illia Chichkan, Anatolii Kryvolap, and Tiberii Silvashi, donated their works, allowing all proceeds from their sales to go to cover treatment costs of our soldiers. Photos of soldiers were taken by Oleksandr Chekmeniov.
The charity project was designed over two weeks. “In preparing the exhibition, our guiding principle was to select leading Ukrainian artists and their iconic works. All artists have agreed to participate in the project,” spokesperson of the Mystetsky Arsenal Mariana Musii told us. “This exhibition does not focus on some philosophical idea, as it is primarily a functional event, for we must attract more people to help.”
The exhibition’s heroes, that is, wounded soldiers, were chosen by asking civic volunteers: the photos picture career officers as well as mobilized soldiers and volunteers, young men who have lost limbs, became blind, or suffered spinal cord injuries... Chairperson of the board for the Volunteer Hundred “Dobrovolia” [Goodwill. – Translator] Natalia Voronkova stressed: “The photos picture soldiers who have suffered the worst injuries and are now treated at the Main Military Hospital in Kyiv. We are personally responsible for the boys. People think that the truce is being observed and the situation has changed to the better. However, there is no truce in the Donbas. I saw with my own eyes a boy with torn-off legs brought to a hospital in Artemivsk recently...”
Just as the exhibition was being prepared, one of its heroes died. “We are mourning his death, but have left his name in the project and will try to help his family, his five-year-old daughter,” director general of Mystetsky Arsenal Natalia Zabolotna said. “This project is the most terrible we have seen, but also the most beautiful in its objectives.”
Symbolically, the cover of the exhibition catalog features Donbas artist Roman Minin’s work The Generator of the Donetsk Metro. “We have long been aware of this work, it causes a lot of emotions, especially since there is no Donetsk Metro in existence,” project curator of the Mystetsky Arsenal Solomia Savchuk remarked.
Artist Yurii Solomko donated for the project his work A Dandelion, inspired by the tragedy at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant. The painting shows a girl who, having leaned over a map of the Tokyo subway, picks a dandelions. Solomko said: “The subway line is a symbol of industrialization, and I like a park piece, a green spot, where I planted a flower. This work is the only one of its kind in my studio, because I have not fully developed this theme. However, I like this work and feel it is suitable for this exhibition, although the Fukushima accident and the current events in Ukraine are very dissimilar tragedies. The disaster in Japan is associated with earthquakes, natural upheavals, while Ukraine has had a social catastrophe that could have been prevent and which can be manipulated – and is being manipulated at the moment.”
Another participant of the charity project, artist Maksym Mamsikov said: “I chose a work for this event randomly, as my solo exhibition has been opened recently, so I just singled out a good picture from it. These striking photos of soldiers are forceful documents. In general, the situation has changed my attitude to art. It was impossible to do anything at first, for who will work when such terrible things are happening? Over time, one gets used to it. I am working again, especially since I can help in that way.”
Two thirds of the paintings were bought or booked at once, so the organizers have raised about 5,000,000 hryvnias already. The funds will be transferred to the wounded soldiers’ accounts soon, to be spent on expensive prostheses and surgeries. Savchuk commented: “We had a silent auction, where everyone determined how much they wanted to pay for a work, and the highest bidder got it. Most works saw competitive sales, some paintings have been sold for a price six times the initial price stated by the artist. We are summarizing all these offers now, trying to replace high-demand works with another work by that artist where possible, or continuing the auction.”
Alongside each soldier portrait, there was the number of his credit card, allowing everyone to send money to cover the soldiers’ treatment costs. One of the initiators of the charity project, chairman of Oshchadbank Andrii Pyshny noted: “It is of utmost importance to have all the funds raised to get to the soldiers who need help. We have opened personal accounts for them and established a working mechanism. The boys can get the necessary funds even as we speak.” The organizers plan to keep helping the soldiers, for the fighting in the eastern regions is showing no signs of stopping.
