A little boy throws paper planes from the building wall on the Antonovycha St., 48a. The child seems happy and jumps after the plane. Artist Oleksandr Korban created this striking image within the social graffiti project endorsed by a charitable establishment named Sky Art Foundation. The artist comes from Donetsk and has been living in Kyiv for almost a year. We wrote about the life of Oleksandr, his work at the mine and transformation into an artist in the article “From mine to art” (See The Day issue No. 4, 2015).
Paper planes is the first in a series of murals created within the project about “the proper childhood” – one without gadgets, tablets, and smartphones. “The idea emerged after I had once again witnessed preschool children fascinated by their games on tablets. I want the older generation to remember their early years: playing hopscotch and hide-and-seek, skipping rope, constructing ‘tree huts,’ launching paper planes and boats, reading good books. I also want to have the children of today think on how they use their golden time, and will they have anything to recall about their childhoods in 10-20 years,” asserts Korban.
In the first days of making the mural people at the street interfered with the street artist’s work. “The people demanded to show a permit for such a work, and some even threatened to call the police. But we’ve had all the permits from the authorities,” says Korban. “And when the child’s face appeared on the wall, people started honking in their cars as a sign of approval and showing thumbs-up. I remember looking down when working on the scaffold and seeing a happy crowd taking pictures of my work.” Overall, the painting took 12 days to complete, from morning to night. About the same amount of time went for the preparation: purchasing the materials, acquiring of a scaffold, and obtaining a permission to create the work.
The boy on the picture is in fact very real. He is the 4-year-old Lev, son of the artist’s friends who helped him when he had just moved to Kyiv. Oleksandr says that Lev is his friend with whom he plays together from time to time. And throwing paper planes was one of the artist’s favorite childhood activities. “I think everyone loved it. When I and my friends were throwing paper planes, I had the inner feeling like I was launching a real airplane,” says Korban.
The artist hopes to create a few more works depicting children playing different games in Kyiv. Moreover, he wants to have these murals in remote areas of the capital: Nyvky, Pozniaky, Borshchahivka etc. Korban explains: “The center already has many landmarks. Many artists want to create their painting in the center so that more people would see their work. But on the outskirts there are also many residents who would appreciate something interesting – therefore, we should draw for them too.”
