May 31, 2019

“Icons on Ammo Boxes” exhibit opens at Philadelphia cathedral

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Iconographer Oleksandr Klymenko’s depiction of St. George (44.5 by 51 cm, ammunition box fragment, tempera; the board was brought from Avdiyivka).

PHILADELPHIA – A most unique exhibit of religious iconography, titled “Icons on Ammo Boxes,” will be on display at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 830 North Franklin St., during the week of June 2-9.

The weeklong exhibit, which opens Sunday, June 2, at 3:45 pm, is one of the many events inaugurating the episcopal ministry of the new metropolitan-archbishop of Philadelphia, Borys Gudziak, who will be enthroned on Tuesday, June 4.

On Sunday, June 2 at 7:45 p.m. and Saturday, June 8, at 12:15 p.m., Gennadiy Druzenko and iconographer Oleksandr Klymenko will present an informative lecture, “Art of Volunteering; Volunteering Art,” about the “Icons on Ammo Boxes” exhibit and the “Buy an Icon – Save a Life” initiative.

These icons are written on ammo boxes brought from the combat zone in eastern Ukraine where a war between Ukraine and Russian-backed militants has been going for five years.

The main idea of the “Icons on Ammo Boxes” project is the transformation of death (symbolized by ammo boxes) into life (traditionally symbolized by icons in Ukrainian culture). This victory of life over death happens not only on the figurative and symbolic level but also in reality through these icons on ammo-boxes.

The project of Kyivan artists Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko, “Buy an Icon – Save a Life” supports the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (PFVMH), a non-governmental program that employs civilian medics to provide medical aid to both soldiers and civilians in the Joint Forces Operation (formerly known as the Anti-Terrorist Operation) zone in eastern Ukraine.

The icons will be available for purchase.

The icons have been exhibited worldwide in The Hague, Antwerp, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hanover, Leipzig, Bonn, Cologne, Warsaw, Vienna, Lublin, Prague, Rome, Milan, and Catania on Sicily, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto as well as the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Mariupol, Dnipro, Kamianske and Pokrovsk.

During the week of June 2-June 9, visitors can view the “Icons on Ammo Boxes” exhibit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Additional information is available at: http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/buy-icon-save-a-life/.

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