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University and City Library of Cologne

Humanity - Icons on Ammo Boxes

The art project "Humanity" by Sofia Atlantova und Oleksandr Klymenko addresses the war in Ukraine in a moving way: ammunition boxes left behind from the war zone serve as a medium for hope-giving icon paintings.

14.12.2022 - 13.01.2023

The transformation of death into life is central to the works shown: Death symbolised by ammunition boxes - life symbolised by icons. It is not about the icon itself, nor about war, but primarily about humanity.

The art of icon painting is strongly rooted in Ukrainian culture and has a long tradition. And it is precisely through this "iconographic" language that war and the suffering it causes become the subject. Importantly, the painted icons are not a religious attribute, but first and foremost a cultural phenomenon, a modern art object.

Seemingly incompatible things are connected: Attributes of modern warfare and the ancient language of art that goes back to the European Middle Ages. The Russian-Ukrainian war is understood against the background of Ukrainian and European history of the last millennium.

The exhibition is the initiative of cultural ambassador Ulyana Derkach, LL.M., and is being realised together with USAC (Ukrainian Students Association Cologne) and the UCL Cologne.

Life conquers death: not only symbolically, but also in reality.

The support of various volunteer initiatives that help people in need in Ukraine is a central component of the art project. These include the Pirogov First Volunteer Hospital, the Martin de Porres Centre and St. Luke's Hospital.

15 countries, 60 cities, 115 locations

This exhibition is going on the road. So far, people have been able to take in the art at these locations: European Parliament, Lithuanian Parliament, in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as well as in cities such as Antwerp, Basel, Berlin, Bonn, Bucharest, Washington, Warsaw and Vienna ...

More information about this project in the RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty article.

Artists

Sofia Atlantova

Sofia Atlantova is a Ukrainian artist and writer. She was born in Kyiv on 14 December 1981, studied at the Taras Shevchenko State University in Kyiv and at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, and works in the field of monumental and easel painting, book graphics, installation and is a participant in a number of exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad. Her prose works have been nominated for several literary awards in Ukraine and abroad, including BBC Book of the Year. She was awarded the Third Degree Order of Merit of Ukraine for her work on the "Icons on Ammo Boxes" project.

"The boards come from the front, and they even smell peculiar, like smoke .... "

"And the icons on the ammo boxes are witnesses to what is happening in Ukraine now."

Oleksandr Klymenko

Oleksandr Klymenko is an artist, art critic and writer (under the pseudonym Olaf Clemensen). He is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. He was born in Kyiv on 05.07.1976. In 1998 he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, and in 2002 he completed postgraduate studies at the Institute of Art History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was awarded the Third Degree Order of Merit for his work on the project "Icons on Ammo Boxes".

"This project is ultimately not about the icon, and not so much about the war, but first and foremost about humanity."

"Boards, fragments, fragments of boxes, crippled by war, are given a new life, used in a new function, become works of art."

 

 

Location

University and City Library Cologne, showcase in front of the cafeteria, Universitätsstrasse 33, 50931 Cologne

Opening hours

Monday to Friday from 9 to midnight - Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 18.

Contact

Ulyana Derkach - USAC-Chairwoman
E-Mail: vorstand@usac-koeln.de

Dr. Philipp Budde - UCL, Marketing, Press and Public Relations
E-Mail: budde@ub.uni-koeln.de