World-renowned artist creates wartime murals in Ukraine's Kyiv

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STORY: :: A world-renowned Ukrainian artist paints vibrant wartime murals in Kyiv

:: September 20, 2024

:: Kyiv, Ukraine

:: Volodymyr Manzhos, Ukrainian artist

:: "I thought that being an artist during the war was inappropriate and unnecessary. But eventually, I also understood that intelligent people in Ukraine understand that culture is always important, especially now, during the war."

:: "My art is too far from what reality is. I realized that it's my trademark. Reality can be too cruel, too depressive. My works have therapeutic benefits for the artist as well as the spectator. One can feel the war everywhere daily, in the news. There is nowhere to hide from the news."

:: September 21, 2024

For over two weeks, Manzhos tirelessly painted his new mural that is a tribute to the work done by Ukrainian GUR military intelligence service. The artwork painted in vibrant colors in downtown Kyiv depicts an owl (a symbol of GUR), a Ukrainian maritime drone and the Russian missile cruiser Moskva.

In 2022, Ukraine said the Moskva was sunk after a missile strike launched by its forces from the coast. In 2024, Ukraine has stepped up attacks in the Black Sea and on Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014. The GUR special units using maritime drones are understood to have been responsible for some of these attacks.

According to Manzhos, the colors of the mural showing a yellow sky combined with dark-blue sea refers to the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag and hints that the events depicted are happening in the Black Sea.

Manzhos’ latest work is the fourth in the series of wartime murals called “Time for Change.” The first one adorns a wall in India and was painted in 2014 when Russia occupied eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions and annexed Crimea. Since then, the artist has created two more murals, both in central Kyiv.

Manzhos' murals can be found in Germany, Canada, France, Poland, United States and other countries. In 2024, he created an art installation for Hermes shop windows in Osaka international airport.