On the Day of Unity of Ukraine, the War Museum presented a large-scale art project, "Altar of Freedom."
"Altar of Freedom" is an artistic and cultural project the Art Armor team created. The main idea of the exhibition is to reflect the unity and strength of sovereign Ukraine through rethinking icon painting traditions. 27 regions of our country are represented by the works of famous modern icon painters who recreated Ukrainian miraculous icons. The images themselves are created on armor plates from armor vests that have already saved the lives of our Defenders. The author of the idea is the co-founder of the "Ukraine for Heroes" Charitable Foundation and the initiator of the "Art Armor" project, Oleksandr Kovalchuk.
During the event, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine, solemnly consecrated the icons in the exhibition. Metropolitan emphasized the symbolism of the project and its presentation on such an important day for every Ukrainian: "On the Day of Unity of Ukraine, we see how an incredible idea has been realized. All regions of our Motherland are represented here by images drawn from existing miraculous icons, each with its own unique history and representing the entire country. The project strengthens our Faith and instills Hope in our bright future under God’s protection".
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, delivered an inspiring speech in which he emphasized the importance of learning the lessons of our history: "On a sacred day for Ukraine, with this exhibition, we declare: unity and integrity are our values and principles that the enemy cannot break. Today marks 106 years since the proclamation of the Unification Act of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, and the lessons of 1919 are clear—we are strong, and we can defend our freedom only in unity."
Oleksandr Kovalchuk, the author of the project "Altar of Freedom," shared with those present memories of the emergence of the idea and the process of implementing a large-scale project. "My team and I dedicate this exhibition to all the Defenders, their relatives and friends. I want us to engrave in our hearts the gratitude to the soldiers who put the most valuable thing on the altar of our freedom—their lives and health," concluded Oleksandr.
The event was attended by a Special Operations Forces serviceman and a Da Vinci battalion fighter, Oleksii Hubanov. They called for support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in all possible ways. "The plates in the exhibition have already saved lives, but they continue their journey and become spiritual amulets. So we all must support the Armed Forces of Ukraine in all possible ways, regardless of any circumstances or obstacles," the Defenders emphasized.
Director General of the War Museum Yurii Savchuk emphasized the historical component of January 22: "Today is a blessed day in the history of our people. We celebrate the Day of the Unification of Ukraine, but exactly a year before this event, another significant event took place—the proclamation of the independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic by the Fourth Universal. And it was this act that became the prerequisite for signing the Unification Act. We are the descendants of the state-builders of the 20th century and are once again facing challenges, fighting the invader. The exhibition "Altar of Freedom" is an undeniable evidence of all-Ukrainian spiritual and mental unity. The location where the project is exhibited, namely the War Museum under the sculpture "Motherland Monument," reinforces the main idea of the exposition: Ukrainian people, the state, the army, and the church are united, and thanks to this, we jointly defend the independence of Ukraine."
The War Museum invites you to visit the exhibition project "Altar of Freedom" and experience the cultural and spiritual strength of Ukrainian people.
