A Map to follow the artworks destroyed by the war in Ukraine. Save style UA– the name of the project, which took shape in March – lists over four hundred archaeological sites, museums, cultural houses, religious buildings and theaters destroyed by bombs or damaged by volleys of bullets. They are the collateral damage of the conflict, unwitting victims of Russian aggression. “The project aims to reconstruct all architectural sites and everything related to our identity and culture,” says Artem Sakh, twenty years old irpin, who did the mapping of the destroyed sites and took care of the website graphics. Since opening the website the Tell storieswith attention to detail, is symbolically entrusted to the poet Taras Shevchenko, symbol of Ukrainian culture of the nineteenth century. The optional it’s not a coincidence: When you open the map, you immediately discover that a Borodiankain the Kyiv region, a bust erected in his memory was shot in the head by one cartridge. “You can browse the site and look for specific places,” says Sakh. “If you click on it, you can read the details: when the artwork was built, when it was damaged. Then the photos will be displayed. It is an ambitious project that is constantly evolving: 24 people work there, all students between 18 and 22 years old, responsible for the identification, photo and enter the works to be reconstructed in the database. For example in the region Kyiv There are forty-one sites destroyed, forty-four in Kharkiv. Looking at the interactive map gives a snapshot of the Russian advance in Ukraine: the western part is dotted with symbols of destroyed monuments, the eastern part is untouched.
For example, among the places marked on the map is the Monument to the Victims of Totalitarianism: it was built in 2000 and destroyed on March 23, 2022. It was located in a park where Ukrainian and Polish soldiers were also buried, tombs originating from Bolshevik Russia. Even the monument the victim ofholocaust is extremely damaged: it is in a small village nearby Kharkivwhere between the 1941 and 1942 Nazi soldiers carried out mass executions of civilians. Cultural centers hit by Russian attacks, such as those of Mariupol and Irpin, are also plentiful. But it doesn’t stop there: “Our project also includes the option of making donations: Everything is done in accordance with the law, the fundraising is transparent and registered,” explains Sakh. “We have many partners, including the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and the Chamber of Architecture. We are free to work in total independence, they support us. One of Save Art UA’s goals is to provide informative coverage of what’s going on inside Ukraine, aiming to reach an international audience. In fact, most of the donations come from abroad. From time to time the site proposes a place to save: now it is possible to contribute to the reconstruction Galagan Museumin the Chernihiv region, erected in 1983. “The building is partially damaged, especially the facade. We need money to save the old paintings that may be in danger,” Sakh stresses. All the materials required for the restoration of the museum are also listed and the costs given: a total of over 60,000 euros are required, so far around 16,000 have been raised. In addition to navigating the map created with the Mapbox software, can be searched by name, focusing on specific archeological sites, cities or building types. This precision and effort of this work is motivated by a deep belief of Sakh: “The Russia he doesn’t just want to conquer our territories, he wants to destroy them Ukrainian culture“.