Project is dedicated to the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. These are photographs of fragments of the mosaic panel “Blacksmiths of the Present” created by significant Ukrainian monumental artists Halyna Zubchenko and Hryhorii Pryshedko, which is an important example of neo-modern monumental art in Ukraine. The colourful mosaic, which glorified the peaceful atom, was created in 1972-1974 as a decoration for the building of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Photos became a series of silk scarves presented in 2023 by ARTUP platform in collaboration with Maryna Shcherbenko at TSUM – main department store in Kyiv. This series was taken on a Yashika mat 124g camera from the 1970s and an ordinary soviet film CBEMA, but at the same time is very unique because of its own dramatic story. On the territory of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, at the abandoned Jupiter plant artist’s friend Oleksandr Syrota found this old photographic film left there in 1986 while forced evacuation, so radiation and time caused major effect on the film. A completely new, unexpected colour spectrum was formed on these developed photos in collaboration with influence of extreme external factors. Main area of research here in this project lyes in the field of the topic of hope, building a future and also striking a question about the Soviet machine of oppression. Having a personal impact caused by Chernobyl disaster on three generation of her family the artist is striking a deep question about the non existed value and rights of one small for the totalitarian system person, as well as other millions of lives in comparison. This project is an attempt to look at a huge global dream of peaceful atom in detail, in historical and social context, through the prism of the tragedy that happened and and its imprints on the old film. The topic of memory, traumatic landscape and post traumatical growing are in deep argument with issue of forced migration that echoing current 10 years war experience that Ukraine is facing since 2014. The relevance of the project is complemented by building an emotional support with people from other areas affected by nuclear disasters and the constant threat of the use of the nuclear weapons against humanity nowadays.
