Chernobyl gets its first mural

Portuguese street artist Antonio Correia aka Pantonio has decorated one of the main streets of Chernobyl with a large scale mural to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

 

“To work with such a location is a street artist’s dream, but also a huge challenge. It’s a tragedy we are talking about. A tragedy that happened 30 years ago and has left its mark on many countries and generations” – says Pantonio.

The artist has depicted the birth of a new life after a great disaster. Rabbits symbolize the return of the animals, and the rebirth of all living creatures in the territory, which was considered not compatible with life.

The idea to create the mural belongs to NGO Sky Art Foundation. Oleg Sosnov is a curator of the project. “It is an artistic and informative project at the same time. It aims to change the perception of today’s life Chernobyl” – says Sosnov.

“Development of street art as an art form is one of the lines of work of NGO Sky Art Foundation. «To work within Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is a manifesto of its kind. We want to draw attention to the catastrophe, to remind how unstable nuclear energy is and how fragile and important human life is. But it’s also about hope and rebirth” – comments Dmitriy Paliyenko, the founder of Sky Art Foundation.

Sky Art Foundation is grateful to the State Agency of Ukraine of the Exclusion Zone and the The State Scientific and Technical Center on Nuclear and Radiation Safety for assistance in creating a mural.

Historical reference: 

Chernobyl Disaster occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the accident Ukraine suffered major long-term consequences. The fallout affected numerous towns and villages of Ukraine, that have subsequently been evacuated, and deemed over 50 000 sq m of agricultural land a wasteland. Radioactive contamination spread over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Baltics and Scandinavia.

Photo – Maxim Dondyuk