Icons on Ammo Boxes: Transforming Death into Life

ICONS ON AMMO BOXES: Transforming Death into Life is an internationally recognized art project that has served as a ground for consolidating international efforts in Ukraine’s support since 2015.

CURRENT Exhibition locations in Scotland:

21 February – 28 March 2025: Undercroft Cafe, Edinburgh Newtown Church, 13 George St, Edinburgh, EH2 2PA
Mon-Fri: 10:30 am – 2:00 pm

28 November 2024 – 21 April 2025: part of ‘Four Seasons in Faith: Worship in Edinburgh Throughout the Year’
Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DD
Mon-Sun: 10 am - 5 pm

FUTURE Exhibition locations in Scotland:

29 March – 6 April 2025: St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral, 61 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3JD
Mon-Sat: 8:30 am – 6:30 pm
Sun: 8:30 am – 8:30 pm

1-3 April 2025: The Scottish Parliament, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP

1-30 May 2025: Chaplaincy, University of Edinburgh, 1 Bristo Sq, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL
Mon-Fri: 10 am – 4 pm

PAST Exhibition locations in Scotland:

7 February 2025: St Giles' Cathedral Film Screening: The Saints Are Watching, St Giles Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh, EH1 1RE

27 January – 13 February 2025: St Giles Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh, EH1 1RE

5 October 2024 – 19 January 2025: Our Lady of Pochaiv and St Andrew Ukrainian Catholic Church in Scotland, 24 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh, EH6 8SA

13 October 2024 – 19 January 2025: Torphichen Kirk, Bowyett, Torphichen, Bathgate, EH48 4LZ

14-15 December 2024: Lockerbie Friends of Ukraine at the Ukrainian POW Chapel & Heritage Barrack, Hallmuir Camp, Lockerbie, DG11 1BN

12 October 2024: St. Cecilia’s Hall, 50 Niddry Str., Edinburgh, EH1 1LG

16 September – 11 October 2024: Chaplaincy, University of Edinburgh, 1 Bristo Sq, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL

The Russian aggression against Ukraine has resulted in immense loss of life, widespread destruction, and deep sorrow. Among the most vulnerable to its consequences are mothers and children. A mother holding her child becomes a powerful symbol of innocent suffering and unending grief, embodying the struggles of those who wander, flee, and live in exile or captivity. This image serves as a compelling call for protection and a cry for help, marking the crucial distinction between good and evil: by saving and protecting children, we safeguard the light.

The concept of the project combines seemingly incompatible things: the attributes of modern war (boards from used ammo boxes), and the ancient artistic language, which dates back to the European Middle Ages (icons in Byzantine style).

The main idea of the project is to transform death: the symbol of which is an arms box, into life: which in Ukrainian culture is traditionally personified by an icon. Thus, the Russian war against Ukraine is comprehended against the background of Ukrainian and even European history of the last millennium. The boxes on which the icons are written are brought from the war zone. In this way, the icons written on their fragments are silent but eloquent witnesses of this war.

The image of the Mother of God with her Child perfectly encapsulates the symbolic battle between good and evil, love and hatred, life and death. It extends beyond the Christian tradition representing an archetypal figure. Motherhood, a vital and foundational concept in society, transforms into an anti-war statement, becoming the antithesis of conflict and a symbol of hope. When depicted on an ammunition box, the image of the Mother and Child brings this hope to life, transforming what once symbolized death into the representation of life par excellence.

This project has been displayed at a great number of educational and diplomatic institutions, European Parliaments, EU Parliament, 2023 NATO Summit, and the Parliament of Ukraine when Russian forces vainly attempted to target the latter with the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile, in May 2023.

The project was successfully exhibited in many places such as Antwerp, Basel, Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Bucharest, Chicago, Cologne, Cours, Edmonton, Frankfurt am Main, Iasi, Karlsruhe, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Montreal, Munich, Oxford, Ottawa, Paris, Philadelphia, Poznan, Prague, Rome, Toronto, Vilnius, Warsaw, Washington, etc. (21 countries, 111 cities & 195 locations) since spring 2015.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SONYA ATLANTOVA is an artist and writer born on December 14, 1981, in Kyiv. She studied at the Taras Shevchenko Art School and the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Sonya works in monumental and easel painting, book graphics, and installations, and has participated in numerous exhibitions both in Ukraine and internationally. Her prose has been included in the short and long lists of several literary awards, including the BBC Book of the Year. Sonya was awarded the third-degree Order of Merit for her work on the project "Icons on Ammo Boxes" and has been nominated twice for the Shevchenko National Prize.

OLEKSANDR KLYMENKO, born on July 5, 1976, in Kyiv, is an artist, art critic, and writer (under the pseudonym Olaf Clemensen). He is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Oleksandr graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in 1998 and completed postgraduate studies at the M. Rylsky Institute of Art History, Folklore, and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2002. He has taught at the M. Boychuk Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Art and Design and at the Higher Humanitarian Theological Courses in Kyiv. He is the author of the introductory article for the "Jewellery Art of Ukraine" album (Kyiv, 2000), as well as several art history articles and the prose and poetry collections "LITO-ATO" (Kyiv, 2015) and “The Names That Remained” (Kyiv, 2023). Oleksandr works in easel and monumental painting and installation, has exhibited in Ukraine and abroad, and has organized various literary and artistic events and performances. He is the author of the idea and one of the curators of the "Icons on Ammo Boxes" project. Oleksandr Klymenko has been nominated thrice for the Shevchenko National Prize.

MORE TO KNOW:

ITV issue about the icons

Teaser of "The Saints are Watching" documentary about the icons

Writing down names of the deceased in the war on the icons in St. Sophia Cathedral, in Kyiv (in Ukrainian)

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A PARTICULAR ICON OR WISH TO HOST AN EXHIBITION, PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US