Art objects made of body armor – to Defender’s Day, volunteers of “Ukraine for Heroes” launched an art project in which they give a second life to plates made of body armor, which stopped bullets and saved the lives of soldiers.
Well-known Ukrainian artists have agreed to transform used armor into a work of art, and the proceeds from the sale of art objects will go to the needs of our defenders, TSN reports.
A white bird rushing forward, and shot armor nearby – this is how the artist Petro Bevza sees the future exhibition of his work with a plate that saved a Ukrainian soldier from an enemy bullet on the battlefield. “Every time I went to work, I didn’t want an invasion, I didn’t want to be like that bullet or shrapnel that flew to the fighter. Gradually, the idea arose to use the motif that is present there. This indestructible soul that comes to life and moves into the future to victory,” says sculptor Petro Bevza.
The protective plate of the body armor is signed with the name of the soldier on the reverse side. And this artifact of Russian aggression should be seen by the world – Petro Bevza is sure. The artist decided to depict the warrior as a white bird after a series of paintings written since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. The exhibition of the author’s works is currently presented in the Kyiv Art Gallery.
The descriptions and titles of the paintings were written by soldiers who are currently fighting at the front. In order to keep helping them, the volunteers decided to combine art with the real consequences of Russian aggression. The idea to turn military armor plates into art objects came when volunteers were working on finding new investments to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Art armor is an art that saves lives. The project is just starting, we are investing a lot of time and energy with our partners and we hope that we will be able to achieve a large-scale project for the large-scale assistance of the Armed Forces. The project itself was born in the process of cooperation with the creative agency “Maken”. This idea was super creative and we saw the highlight in it”, – convinces the co-founder of the charity fund and volunteer movement Oleksandr Kovalchuk.
Out of the two dozen bulletproof vests that saved their owners’ lives, thanks to the artists, they will later turn into art objects. Used plates stitched with bullets were provided to the Ministry of Defense. “The genius of the project, when real armor plates are taken from a real soldier, or the Armed Forces, or a border guard, or a national guard, who saved his life. Then this plate gets a second life, it is put into the hands of people who turn it into an art object. We, as the Ministry of Defense, incredibly support such activity, such an initiative. We thank them for what they are doing together with us, helping the security and defense sector to fulfill its main mission – to clean our land from the enemy,” says the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov.
the project involved a dozen famous Ukrainian artists, whose works will later be sold at a charity auction in Europe. “Now we are talking about, I hope, millions of dollars that we will be able to send to help the Armed Forces,” says the head of the foundation.
The withdrawn funds will be used for the purchase of the most necessary equipment for the military sector of defense and security. The first presentation of the works of the art project in the capital will take place in a month, on the Day of Defenders of Ukraine. After that, the exhibition travels through European cities to visually remind the world about the war crimes of the aggressor country.
