Ukrainian artists ‘turn death into life’ by painting icons on ammunition boxes

Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova started their art project, ‘Buy an Icon – Save a Life', as a way to ‘comprehend the horror’ of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The artist couple has exhibited in 12 countries, raising money for a volunteer mobile hospital in the region.

An icon painted on wooden planks from ammunition boxes by O.Klymenko and S.Atlantova Source: Photo Credit: Yevgen Chorny

Highlights: 

• Ukrainian artist couple Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova transform military ammunition boxes using Christian icons 
• Their project has been exhibited in North America and Europe, raising funds for the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital 
• US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met last week to discuss the growing tension on the Ukrainian border  

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Visiting a military base in 2014, not long after the conflict began, Mr Klymenko says he was "astonished” to realise how closely the cover of a wooden ammunition box could resemble a Christian icon panel. 

The painter took one box home to experiment with. 

“The first icon I painted was of the Mother of God. It turned out to be very powerful, I couldn’t believe it myself - the feeling was that it was probably thousands of years old,” Mr Klymenko tells SBS Russian. 

So, I got this idea to combine old classical Orthodox icons and this war, to use the old language spoken by artists 1,000 years ago to try to verbalise this war.

In a week when US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met to discuss the growing tension on the Ukrainian border, Mr Klymenko says "ordinary people are crying for peace".

For him, his art is a way of understanding the horrors of the simmering conflict.

“We all know about the downed Boeing 777, where a huge number of innocent people died,” he says. 

“My analogy is that a similar thing happened to the big region of Donbas [in southeastern Ukraine]. It's as if it was also shot down by some huge missile called war. Millions became refugees, tens of thousands were injured or killed." 

 

Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Klymenko Source: Supplied by Olaf Clemensen

Mr Klymenko’s partner in life and work, writer and artist Ms Atlantova, admits that she didn’t immediately understand or accept his idea. 

“At first I had a strong negative reaction: how can you bring together a box in which deadly weapons are kept and holy icons? 

"But then I started to see the bigger picture, I remembered that war is not only about tragedy and death, but it is also about heroism and self-sacrifice.” 

Inspired by the ordinary people who, even in times of conflict, retain their humanity, the couple resolved to use the icons to raise money for the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital, which treats people in the conflict region.  

Source: Photo Credit: Yevgen Chorny

According to Mr Klymenko, this is the largest medical project at the frontline, with more than 500 doctors working across 50 locations. He says the hospital has so far treated 60,000 patients. 

“This military hospital treats not only soldiers, but also the local communities,” he says. 

They not only symbolically, but actually turn death into life

So far, the couple has created over 200 icons for the project and staged sales exhibitions in the USA, Canada and many European countries, with the support of the European Parliament, as well as churches and temples of various religions. 

However, Mr Klymenko says the project is not about religion, but uniting people of different nationalities and beliefs. 

"This is not so much about God as about humanity. The idea of turning death into life, I believe, can touch every soul." 

Source: Photo Credit: Yevgen Chorny

He says for most people the conflict is something they might read about on the Internet or see on TV. But when they hold these boards in their hands, they feel that they are touching a “terrifying reality”. 

“These boards were brought from the front, they fought.

This is our attempt to take people out of the virtual space and show them a reality with blood and death, because these boxes bear traces of this war - they are with traces of burning, with traces of shrapnel.

Mr Klymenko explains he faces an inner struggle in creating his art. 

“It is very difficult and very painful, because you realise that someone took out ammunition from this box and killed people. And when you work, the feeling is like a sharp knife entering your heart. The process is very difficult. 

“But on the other side of it is catharsis, the transfiguration that we see in an ancient Greek tragedy, purification through suffering.” 

Source: Photo Credit: Yevgen Chorny

Ms Atlantova says she can’t shake a feeling of absurdity whenever she hears news about the escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine. 

“We live in a world where the brightest minds think day and night about how to build a weapon which will more effectively kill people.  

“There are so many things that need to be invented in the world, and still huge resources are spent on war." 

Ukrainian artists Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova Source: Photo Credit: Yevgen Chorny

The spouses admit it may be "childish", but they hope their project can contribute to a peaceful future. 

“When I was in United States with the exhibition, I told them that we, in Ukraine, pray that this will never happen to them.  

“I also always say that I would really like this to be the last project of this kind in the history of art. I would like no one else to paint their icons on ammo boxes anywhere else,” Mr Klymenko says.