SupportEN Оксана ІваницькаЖурналістка Alina starts watching one of the latest videos of Maryinka circulating online but turns it off immediately Staring at the stumps of once-green chestnuts along the city’s avenue and endless piles of concrete ruins—it physically hurts Every five-story building and school her father once built And I know he’s turning in his grave because everything he made is destroyed,” Alina says Maryinka suffered from the first days of the Anti-Terrorist Operation the front line and Donetsk itself were visible from nearly every window The front-line town shuddered from Grad rockets in July 2014 Yet locals still planted flowers by their homes despite it all For eight years, Maryinka, home to nearly 10,000 people, was a gateway and final barrier to occupied Donbas. Until the Russian army “denazified” it for good, capturing it as lifeless ruins. The first photos of an apocalyptic, utterly demolished Maryinka surfaced in March 2023 Her native places now exist only as map markers and linger in memories the only way left to visit a city wiped from Ukraine’s face by Russians Maryinka 2018-2024: before and after the arrival of the Russiansphotos from open sources“Maryinka's Mother”Alina Kosse is a well-known volunteer in Maryinka “My house was like a convention palace,” she laughs American journalist Christopher Miller dubbed her “Maryinka’s Mother.” The nickname stuck—everyone called her that The trip took 40 recitations of the “Our Father.” She’d stride quickly down Kashtanova Street to the intersection 2—built by her father—then head past the tax office was her district center for children’s and youth creativity She ran it for 23 years—a third of her life there wasn’t a single day I didn’t want to go to work They were so talented—winning first place in the region for knitting toys Ask anyone from Maryinka: we always packed the auditorium and the square Founded in the 18th century by settlers from Slobozhanshchyna and Poltava regions—mostly peasant farmers—they brought their traditions Despite migrations and waves of hundreds of thousands of Russian workers to Donbas Maryinka somehow preserved its Ukrainian identity then Industrialization didn’t change much either These lands stayed agricultural by tradition and a food processing plant that made grains and flour Though the center had typical Soviet architecture authenticity shone through in the old private homes—each unique Battles raged—control flipped back and forth Ukraine’s Armed Forces finally liberated it on August 5 Despite proximity to the front and regular shelling living a front-line life still distant from most Ukrainians’ reality 2014WikipediaBut a century of Russification left its mark but admits: her pro-Ukrainian stance wasn’t widely shared Ukrainian soldiers near the Maryinka district police station August 2014Maryinka City Military AdministrationShe remembers the evening of July 14 Grad rockets flew toward Maryinka—visible through the window She left with her mom and sister for Slovyansk where her sister had an apartment—though its windows were blown out too But after her home was robbed twice by locals Then I met the 28th Brigade and started helping them former pro-Russian Party of Regions MP Natalia Korolevska visited Maryinka’s administration ‘Raise your hand if you didn’t go to the referendum.’ Me and one girl raised ours ‘Banderite!’ But they slinked off eventually.” She says a hostile sniper fired at her house twice The fight felt like it was right on the street I came back from the kitchen walking on glass—I didn’t even feel it I open the bedroom door and see a bullet stuck in the open door across from me The military-civil administration head came And just after we fixed that window—I was heading to my room but went to change in the opposite one “How does the Lord steer you away from things like that?..” over 70% of Maryinka residents listed Ukrainian as their native language Maryinka’s Ukrainian essence struck historian and ethnologist Olena Boriak when she found an archival file “Ethnographic Description of Maryinka Village Stalino Oblast”—records by Donetsk Pedagogical School students from 1927 to 1929 the recorded words were entirely Ukrainian Even Sich Riflemen songs were documented,” Boriak noted Residential building in MaryinkaMaryinka City Military-Civil AdministrationEnough flowers for everyoneAlina is an artist She moved to Maryinka with two grown sons in the late ’90s and grew attached Asked “What’s Maryinka to you?” she answers without hesitation: “Maryinka’s my blooming pearl.” Maryinka’s streets sagged with apricots—you could pluck them from trees Any neighbor would let you pick mulberries “[Potential] grooms yanked flowers from near the doorstep,” Alina laughs On February 20, photojournalist Max Levin was at Alina’s home Ruins of MaryinkaFacebook / Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of UkraineHe died in March on Kyiv Oblast’s front amid heavy fighting It later emerged that Russian troops had executed him She asks people to remember Maryinka as it was: “blooming with happy kids.” But she harbors no illusions about rebuilding But I’m a realist: Maryinka won’t be rebuilt Going back to the ashes of my memories and dreams…” Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker his perspective is shaped by multiple histories Shonibare doesn't believe in tearing down statues he believes in adding new voices to the conversation reinterpreting public monuments to spark debate and deeper understanding ShareSaveRome's most stunning optical illusions revealedFrom the Malta Knights keyhole to a set of vanishing columns, discover the Eternal City's visual secrets. 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The ancient history of Iceland's warring Viking familiesThe Travel Show visits an immersive experience that brings to life a brutal battle between Iceland's Vikings. Explore the tiny biodegradable pacemaker for newbornsResearchers have created a pacemaker smaller than a grain of rice that does not require open surgery to implant. Why you might be younger than you think you areThere is a difference between our chronological and biological age, which we have the power to control. Malaysian trade minister on US tariffsMalaysia's minister Zafrul Aziz will be representing the ASEAN bloc in its negotiations with the US. Ten striking images of an Earth scarred by humansFrom a shipwrecking yard in Bangladesh to a river of iron dioxide in Canada, a deep dive in Ed Burtynsky's work. Up-close with giant river otters as they learn how to fishIt takes three years for an otter cub to master the complexities of a successful hunt. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Russia said Monday that its forces have captured Maryinka a town in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has been all but destroyed during Moscow’s invasion “The assault detachment of the ‘South’ grouping completely liberated the settlement of Maryinka today,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting Kyiv has not yet commented on Moscow’s claim Shoigu said Maryinka had been heavily fortified by the Ukrainian armed forces over the past nine years Located 5 kilometers southwest of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk which has been under regular shelling attacks in recent months Maryinka had a population of around 10,000 before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 The town has been reduced to rubble in the 22 months since Russia’s invasion Putin said at his meeting with Shoigu that the capture of Maryinka helped push Ukrainian troops further from Donetsk He offered to present the soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the battle for Maryinka with state awards Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help please support us monthly starting from just $2 and every contribution makes a significant impact independent journalism in the face of repression You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed and making work inspired by Picasso’s African art collection a scaled-down replica of HMS Victory with sails made from his signature batik fabric was one of the most memorable artworks on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth and now has a permanent home outside the Maritime Museum in Greenwich Shonibare was recently given the 2021 Art Icon award by the Whitechapel Gallery Congratulations on becoming the Whitechapel’s eighth Art Icon. You join a storied list of artists, including Howard Hodgkin and Rachel Whiteread…I’ve been a fan of that gallery for a long time I didn’t even know that anyone noticed what I did Picasso appropriated from another culture and I appropriate from European ethic artYou have a new show based on Picasso’s collection of African art Can you explain?It’s called African Spirits of Modernism and the work is in the form of sculpture I knew that Picasso was influenced by African art But I didn’t know that he had a huge collection of African art it might have been Matisse who introduced him to it And he was completely obsessed by the power of those objects and the spirituality behind them Picasso is far better known for African art than the Africans themselves who in turn was inspired by African art and sculpture?In a way I’ve also appropriated classical western sculptures but then I kind of hybridise them with African heads Picasso was interested in appropriating from another culture and I also appropriate from European ethnic art The world is a free place: we can be inspired by one another and critique one another but there are all those serious things about power and the relationship between Africa and Europe You also have a survey exhibition, End of Empire opening in Salzburg’s Museum der Moderne in May You don’t want to call it a “retrospective” – why not?Because I’m a spring chicken It’s 60 works collected from the past 30 years Do you still feel connected to the work you made early in your career?Oh I wish actually the world had changed dramatically since I started out View image in fullscreen‘It doesn’t scare the public too much’: Yinka Shonibare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2010 Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesWould you say you are best known for Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle?Possibly It’s a playful piece and it’s a very important subject They get it after a while; it doesn’t scare them too much It was recently announced that you are making a sculpture in Leeds to honour David Oluwale who died in 1969 after persistent harassment by the police You’ve said you want the work to be “hopeful” – why is that important?Like George Floyd what happened to David Oluwale was a tragic thing to have happened through police harassment at the time But you don’t want the next generation to be full of hate You want people to start looking at the better side of human nature rather than thinking that’s what the world is like You want people to feel they can be hopeful How has your way of working changed during the pandemic?I don’t think it’s actually changed a lot I decided that I had to have more life-work balance I used to go into the studio every single day and work all hours Friday and I found that I became maybe four times more productive What do you do with the new time for “life” you created?I try to look after myself a bit more And you’ve got to make time for personal relationships otherwise you’re not going to be a happy person in the end What do you put that down to?I’m very fortunate that my job is also my lifestyle And for people who are fortunate enough to be creative I think the pandemic hasn’t been as devastating mentally I feel fortunate that anyone wants the results of my creativity I’d probably be one of those eccentrics who just produce these things anyway But fortunately there is such a profession as artist For more information on the Art Icon award, supported by the Swarovski Foundation, visit whitechapelgallery.org. African Spirits of Modernism opens at the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London on 4 June This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025. The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media. Published: Mar 25, 2024written by Anastasiia Kirpalov British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is an established superstar in the world of contemporary art His most famous works incorporate patterned fabrics that are usually perceived as being traditionally African include the elements of Western colonial culture Yinka Shonibare was born in London but moved to Lagos he spent enough time abroad to consider himself cosmopolitan Shonibare’s desire to become an artist was shocking to his family he enrolled in an art school and went back to London Shonibare contracted a spinal virus that left half of his body paralyzed The idea to work with his African heritage did not come to him immediately. Although Shonibare was always a politically engaged artist, he started his artistic path by commenting on diverse issues of ongoing history such as Perestroika his art school professors complained about Shonibare not creating something they called authentic African art the artist was annoyed by his apparent obligation to fit into a racially predetermined category later he understood that acceptance did not mean compliance: he agreed to use the outside expectations of him in his own favor Yinka Shonibare is one of the most prominent contemporary artists His studio in East London doubles as a residence and exhibition venue for young artists unable to afford rent Shonibare employs a group of assistants who do part of the manual work While searching for his ‘authentic’ artistic voice, Yinka Shonibare explored African art but did not find anything relevant enough to use in his practice He found his perfect material in something that was believed to be traditional African fabric—bright patterned cotton used for garments all over the continent further research into its origins brought many surprises the fabric gradually spread to the whole continent with its patterns mimicking those of traditional woven fabrics Although Dutch Wax Prints became the symbol of African postcolonial identity they are essentially a product of the colonial era Some believe this symbol was imposed on Africans by the West while others insist they reclaimed it and turned it into an expression of power Yinka Shonibare was intrigued by this ambiguity and so his lifelong fascination with fabrics began Shonibare created one of the first artworks incorporating Dutch wax fabric called Double Dutch in 1994 These were not yet the actual fabrics but a series of small paintings imitating fabric prints Shonibare created this piece as a reference not only to African postcolonial culture but to Minimalism—a white-dominated and absurdly expensive art movement that relied on simple geometric forms Later, Shonibare went even further in clashing narratives. He started to recreate dresses and costumes of Victorian-era nobility with printed cotton instead of expensive silks The Victorian era was the emblematic era of the British Empire at the height of its colonial power By using Dutch-born African fabric for excessive and fancy outfits of the English aristocracy Shonibare launched an endless cycle of appropriation Yinka Shonibare employs a team of costume makers to ensure the proper construction of his fabric works especially those related to historical garments One of the costume makers called Dee Sheehan once said that the most complex part of Shonibare’s designs is not the sewing itself but matching patterns so that the seams and cuts will not ruin the ornament of the fabric Shonibare chooses his cotton from one of the numerous small shops in London The famous British artist and printmaker William Morris is one of the artist’s biggest inspirations Morris was a socialist who believed in the accessibility of art and good design One of Shonibare’s projects even included reconstructing photographs from William Morris’ family album with a diverse group of models showing the printmaker’s egalitarian ideas developing through the years Yinka Shonibare’s work with African fabric is not limited to sewing fashionable garments for mannequins. He uses it for public installations, such as Admiral Nelson’s ship HMS Victory with its sails covered in patterns hidden inside a bottle like a gift shop souvenir The prints also found their way into interior design The narrative of the repercussions of colonialism and reclaiming of agency is a constant for Shonibare. One of his best-known works titled Scramble for Africa is a theatrical, dramatic interpretation of the 1884 Berlin Conference. During the meeting in Berlin, the leading European powers at the time divided the African continent into countries and zones of influence with no regard for the people living on the land the political map of Africa remains entirely artificial and does not relate to ethnic or cultural borders headless figures dressed in Dutch wax clothing argue fiercely each hoping to capture a bigger part of the prize Yinka Shonibare is not simply an astonishing artist: he is a knowledgeable art historian who uses his knowledge in his creative work. He often plays with the canonical images of white Western art history by incorporating elements of African culture. The woman on a swing, painted by Jean-Honore Fragonard was an emblem of frivolous joys of European aristocracy Shonibare’s interpretation of the work is both joyful and ironic it also possesses a darker undertone of the exploitation underlying the careless lifestyles of nobility Although the majority of art in Fragonard’s age expressed the joy of life and entertainment only a tiny percentage of Europeans actually experienced that joy His other famous large-scale work The Victorian Philanthropist’s Parlour looks like something that can be found in a palace like Versailles There is furniture arranged around a fireplace that screams luxury while patterned wallpaper and decorations give the viewer’s eye no chance of rest the viewer notices something inconsistent with the eighteenth-century noble life the lavish space turns into a young boy’s bedroom and sofas all have faces and figures of famous athletes printed on them Yinka Shonibare was fascinated and even obsessed with the lives of European aristocracy during colonial times He studied fashion and design history to get closer to these people Shonibare’s works are simultaneously a critique of the establishment these works show the voyeuristic pleasure of discreetly observing something you were never allowed to be a part of His series of photographs Diary of a Victorian Dandy shows Shonibare as a young British aristocrat from the Victorian era who is surrounded by servants Shonibare destabilizes the system from within by simply allowing himself to reside in it Anastasiia is an art historian and curator based in Bucharest Previously she worked as a museum assistant caring for a collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art Her main research objectives are early-20th-century art and underrepresented artists of that era She travels frequently and has lived in 8 different countries for the past 28 years Above: According to the documents leaked by the American serviceman, twelve Ukrainian combat brigades of about 4,000 soldiers each are training for the counteroffensive, to be ready by the end of April.  NATO allies are training and supplying nine of those brigades. (MIL.IN.UA) Above: General Staff Ukrainian General Staff of the Armed Forces estimated enemy losses since February 24 Above:  Regional history museum in Kupyansk, Kharkiv. The enemy sent missiles into Kupyansk this morning, killing and injuring civilians. (Ukrnews) Above: General Staff Above: The fund Povernys Zhyvym (Come Back Alive) delivered 1500 machine guns to Fortress Bakhmut.  (Vilne Radio) Above: General Staff [email protected] [email protected] FB: @uwcongress This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. According to him, last night the enemy launched an airstrike on Orikhiv town, shelling a total of 20 settlements in Zaporizhzhia region. "Over the past day, more than 90 strikes were recorded in the zone of responsibility in Zaporizhzhia region, and 249 strikes – in Donetsk region. Missile and artillery units of the defense forces of Tavria direction performed 832 fire missions over the past day," Shershen said. He added that the Ukrainian troops killed and wounded 191 occupiers in Tavria direction in the past 24 hours. "The enemy losses in Tavria direction are 191 occupiers killed and wounded. Irreversible losses make up 74 people. Six units of enemy weapons and military equipment were destroyed and damaged. In particular, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, an 82mm mortar, MT12 Rapira anti-tank gun, 2S19 Msta-B self-propelled howitzer, and D-30 howitzer. Four enemy ammunition depots were destroyed," Shershen said. Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421. © 2015-2025 Ukrinform. All rights reserved. The London-based British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare unveils a public work of art in New York this week—the first in a “new generation” of his Wind Sculptures. These large fibreglass works, which he began making in 2013, resemble the fabric of a sail blowing in the breeze. Hand-painted to look like colourful Dutch wax batik prints, the sculptures tap into themes Shonibare addresses across different media: colonialism, cultural identity and migration. One of his earlier Wind Sculptures was permanently installed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC in 2016. This new commission by the Public Art Fund, Wind Sculpture (SG) I, stands 23ft tall at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza at the south-east entrance to Central Park (until 14 October). Ahead of its installation, we spoke to the artist about the piece and the meaning of public monuments. There has been much discussion in the US about civic monuments. In New York, a city commission decided to remove from Central Park a statue of James Marion Sims, a surgeon and pioneer in the field of gynaecology, who tortured and brutally experimented on enslaved African-American women in the 19th century. What’s your view on that? I don’t think monuments should be destroyed. I don’t think history can be destroyed. It’s good to make new monuments, alternative monuments that reflect our own time, but I don’t think we can erase what happened in the past by simply destroying them—in the way that we couldn’t simply burn all the books in the library because we don’t like the content. A monument doesn’t necessarily have to be a work that is violent or about people being killed. There should also be room for something that is more engaging in a celebratory way.Do you think problematic monuments should be put in a different context, bringing them into museums, for instance, instead of having them in a public park? That’s where the issue of democracy comes in; local people would have to decide what they would want to do. [Monuments] can perhaps be put into museums and there be an education programme around them. To get rid of those ugly aspects is also to forget them. Yeah. As far as the Wind Sculptures are concerned, they evolved out of a project I did in London about migration and about the origins of its multicultural society. Admiral Nelson went to battle with Napoleon and won that battle [of Trafalgar]. As a result, the British Empire was able to take control of the seas so that the British Empire could prosper. That contact with many countries brought a lot of immigrants to London. America is also a country of immigrants, so this piece is really also about the Atlantic trade routes, and it’s about wind and the movement of people. The sculptures look like fabrics blowing in the wind. They’re based on African textiles—Indonesian fabrics produced by the Dutch and then sold back to Africa. The fabric in itself is multicultural, if you like. At a time when one of the sensitive subjects of the moment is the issue of immigrants, this work is a good metaphor for that movement of people, but also visually very engaging. Courtesy of Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA) and James Cohan, New York. Image Courtesy of Public Art Fund, New York Courtesy of Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA) and James Cohan, New York. Image Courtesy of Public Art Fund, New York Nicholas Baume, the director of the Public Art Fund, has described your idea of motion, contrasting it to the static monumentality of most civic works. Do you think that it challenges that convention? Some of the monuments we see are 100 years old or more. It is possible to make exciting, dynamic, colossal things now; we have the technology to do that. A lot of the monuments tended to be about war or some kind of heroic act. Also, they tend to be a white male. But we live in a different world now and I think all views should be heard. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a work that is violent or about people being killed. There should also be room for something that is more engaging in a celebratory way. How would you define a 21st-century monument? It should be based on the cultural and economic conditions of a place, not necessarily dictated—because it can’t be. It has to evolve. America is multicultural. New York is multicultural. I feel that the monuments should reflect that. At a different time, when people from other cultures didn’t have a voice, then their works were not seen publicly. But in a society where we value everyone’s point of view, then the public spaces should reflect that. How do you feel about the work’s installation in Central Park? That’s just going to be amazing, because there’s a walkway and the sculpture is going to be at the end of that. So the kind of views you’re going to get from the park itself, and also from outside, will be quite spectacular. Central Park is a family space. All kinds of people go there. Public sculptures should be like that—accessible to different levels of society. Not everyone can afford to go to a museum. Even politically, [it’s important] just having something that can then belong to the public, not based on your financial status. You can enjoy a work without it being about how much money you’ve got – and I think that’s important, to have such civic access to works of art. Yep, it’s already done. It’s actually on its way to the US in a large container. That idea of it travelling across the ocean seems appropriate. But I assume you’re not coming by ship? news15 February 2021Keep problematic monuments and ‘explain them’, UK government to tell cultural leadersOpponents argue that some public statues reinforce racism The British Nigerian artist has unveiled Wind Sculpture (SG) 1 a 23ft fiberglass piece he hopes will promote a message of inclusion in the US Last month, New York removed a statue of 19th-century gynaecologist James Marion Sims from Central Park after activists demanded the monument be taken down Sims performed surgical experiments on enslaved black women without anaesthesia Presented by the Public Art Fund, British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare has unveiled Wind Sculpture (SG) 1 to the public, a 23ft fiberglass sculpture that highlights global migration. which is central to Shonibare’s philosophy “It’s a simple equation,” said Shonibare over the phone from his London studio Thereforeit’s natural you should want that for other people.” It started in 2010, when Shonibare created Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a scaled-down replica of HMS Victory Lord Nelson’s flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar he used a colourful batik pattern – his visual trademark for many of his artworks – but he felt the sails could stand on their own “I wanted to develop the sails and push that further,” said Shonibare “and that’s how the Wind Sculptures came about.” The batik-patterned textiles originated in Indonesia but are better known for their association with the European colonization of west Africa “The fabrics are now known as African textiles,” said Shonibare “I like the relationship between the different cultures as the fabric is a metaphor for the movement of people and global relationships.” In 2013, Shonibare kicked off his Wind Sculptures series, and they’re now scattered in nine spots over the world, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington to the Ndubuisi Kanu Park in Lagos This new piece in Central Park is the first in the “second generation” of Wind Sculptures and signifies new beginnings “My piece is about the different backgrounds of people coming together,” said Shonibare “It does touch on migration – which is central to the work – as the fabrics are a signifier of the identity of people from Africa and the African diaspora “We’ve seen a rise in nationalism in Britain with issues around Brexit in the US with the issues around the Dreamers I’m not necessarily going to promote anything that excludes people,” said Shonibare “Many people have come to the US from different parts of the world and there is something quite false about pure races The new Wind Sculpture also stands a few blocks from Trump Tower “That is pure coincidence,” said Shonibare given that everything that has been happening.” View image in fullscreenYinka Shonibare in London Photograph: James Mollison/Courtesy James Cohan New YorkShonibare has watched America change “It used to be a safe haven; it’s where you went for refuge but I’m disappointed in what’s been going on “I think that comment was based on ignorance The shape of the new sculpture is meant to look like it’s blowing in the wind “It’s a metaphor for the natural movement of people This year, Shonibare is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Guest Projects his artist residency and exhibition space on the ground floor of his London studio he will also be launching a new residency for artists in Lagos “I feel that cultural exchange is always good The conversation continues this week, as Shonibare is giving two public talks, one on 5 March at the New School and a second lecture on 9 March at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Shonibare will look to the bigger picture for the talks “There are many inequalities among people: racism All these things don’t really go away,” he says what we try to do is create a platform engaging people on these social and cultural concerns.” Above: Dobropark near Kyiv announced that its tulip festival will go on this year a new tulip variety will be introduced called “Ukrainian Courage” the Kremlin seems to have given up on its failed civilian bombing campaign of Kyiv and other areas not on the border with the terrorist state Child not ready for daddy to go back to War…#Ukraine #UkraineWillWin #Ukrainian #Russia pic.twitter.com/8EuuosfOmg — Intermarium 24 (@intermarium24) April 12, 2023 Video: Your guide to making Easter paska bread — Tetyana Denford (Тетяна Бісик) 🇺🇦 (@denfordauthor) April 10, 2023 Above: Photo near Kyiv, April 2022. Some things haven’t changed much in a year. (SBS) Above: Ukraine-controlled Chasiv Yar due west of Bakhmut. (The New York Times) Above: Suspilne covered the story of a father and son who fight together for the defense of Ukraine The father is a veteran since 2015 who is now training his 21-year-old son “on the intricacies of military affairs” came to his father the day after the invasion started and said he would either join his father for find another way to serve on his own Above: “Spring on the Front” (UNN) [email protected] [email protected] and you will soon find a walled hollow where deer were once taken for slaughter Such discoveries provide an eerie echo of a very different time: the early 19th century when this artificial landscape of rolling hills and silvery lakes was created as the pleasure ground of a wealthy landed family I may as well be honest: I find the park a bit worthy. I think Moore and Hepworth are ever so slightly, well, dull; and for all its bright, bold visitor centre, this place is just too much a temple of cultural reverence for my taste. But Yinka Shonibare has set it alight is the perfect stage for this British-Nigerian artist who is fascinated by the strange legacies of Britain's imperial past when such vast estates were built on the backs of slaves and the plundering of the colonies in which various suitably attired characters struck theatrical poses as if starring in a rather over-the-top costume drama set in an old pile as this show of new and recent work is called feels similarly ironic and powerfully dramatic Indoors, beneath the beamed ceilings of the YSP's galleries, are the Revolution Kids: animal-headed humans who dance madly, toting golden pistols that replicate the one Colonel Gaddafi owned these insurrectionists are meant to be about the Arab Spring half-wild English landscape where gentlefolk once rode to hounds the armed foxes look like they're here for revenge Yet his are painted lime green and bright blue Are there hidden powers concealed in these nails after all two headless mannequins dressed as 18th-century gentlemen stand on opposing sides of a screen made of eggs Both have long-barrelled guns that they fire through the eggs at each other leaving charred fragments of shell lying around ringing with the mad quality of the Spanish visionary's Caprices his surreal send-ups of stupidity and superstition There are more headless mannequins elsewhere. Two are firing Dutch-print cannonballs out of a replica cannon from – a recurring motif – HMS Victory. (Again, there is an air of Goya here, given the deranged futility underlying the Spaniard's depictions of war.) It's political This work comes with a pat official interpretation that Nelson's naval victories paved the way for colonialism and so are part of Shonibare's comment on the legacy of empire Similar texts are all over this exhibition dutifully explaining every last fox-headed kid as an allegory of race and empire But if Shonibare's art was as simple as that funny and somehow – beneath all the humour – profound this musical farewell to life is hardly the stuff of instant and easy political messages Meanwhile, fabric aliens are trying to take off in flying machines as nutty as anything Leonardo da Vinci dreamed up And dandified children are trying on wings too – angel wings that attach with leather straps just like the ones street kids were given to wear whenever Caravaggio needed models for his paintings of angels Fellow artist Orazio Gentileschi once popped round to Caravaggio's house to return a pair he'd borrowed strapped on to faceless urchins who can fly where the slave owners and fox hunters will never catch them Shonibare's Wildean works are worth a thousand Henry Moores Головна Сторінка » English stories » “There is no home – only ruins”: Russians levelled the town of Maryinka to the ground about 10,000 people lived in the frontline town of Maryinka in Donetsk Oblast before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine The last residents were evacuated by rescuers in November last year the town literally does not exist – there is not a single building left standing The journalists of Slidstvo.Info collected evidence of how the Russian army destroyed Maryinka in the Donetsk region starts to cry every time she thinks about her hometown Her apartment was turned into a pile of bricks and earth by the Russians Neither my mother nor my mother-in-law have a house,” explains Natalia Natalia is a resident of the town of Maryinka which was destroyed by the Russian military The woman has lived in Maryinka all her life Natalia and her daughter left the city first It was the policemen from the White Angel evacuation group who had to rescue her mother with cancer The woman did not want to leave and lived with her neighbours in the basement of her apartment block “They were in the basement on Zavodska Street just earth and bricks,” the woman says Now the family lives in Kurakhove (10 kilometres from the town of Maryinka) She got a job as a saleswoman in a grocery store Drone photo: a completely destroyed townThe town of Maryinka destroyed by Russians / Photo from t.me/ermaka2022 “When the guys (the military – ed.) come to see me I constantly ask how our Maryinka is doing I don’t care if they put a dog kennel there I live in hope that I will return there,” says Natalia there are no official residents in the town of Maryinka The last residents were evacuated at the end of last year by the police of the White Angel evacuation group and the military “The devastation there was already complete People could be found only in the basements People were there because of the surviving houses they constantly called us to take them away,” recalls police officer Vasyl Pipa Vasyl and his colleagues evacuated civilians from Maryinka every day The locals nicknamed them “White Angel” because of the colour of their car The name stuck and later became official for police evacuation teams along the entire frontline a mine hit a few metres from Vasyl’s crew An armoured car saved both civilians and police officers but only one of the heads of the criminal investigation department of the Donetsk regional police department I believe that he is a decent and heroic man but he got us and the civilians out,” Vasyl says but neither he nor his colleagues can recognise the location – the city has changed so much The landscape there is like a lunar landscape You can find your way around by the cardinal points The soldiers of the 54th Separate Mechanised Brigade who defended Maryinka from the beginning of the full-scale invasion until last autumn Info that the Russians shelled the city with artillery aircraft and even used phosphorus shells prohibited by the Geneva Conventions Soldier Dmytro with the call sign “Fighter” “Phosphorus was used every day until they had a shortage of ammunition and the whole house burns down,” recalls soldier Dmytro A screenshot of the 54th Brigade’s video: Russians are dropping phosphorus shells on the town of Maryinka An officer of the 54th Brigade with the call sign “Haiduk” is convinced that the Russian army deliberately shelled residential areas “Artillery doesn’t just fire at random – it fires at a target… If one shot is fired nearby and the others are 300 and 500 metres away It won’t hurt the military that much – they are trained An officer of the 54th Brigade with the call sign “Haiduk” The Russians use the so-called scorched earth tactic not even trying to protect civilians and infrastructure says “Boyets”: “They just need a piece of territory where their troops will be stationed To get closer to the cities they are shelling Despite the fact that there are no civilians in the city anymore and all the buildings have been destroyed And after more than a year of fierce clashes and attempts by the Russian army to occupy the city its western outskirts are still under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces READ ALSO: “They took away food that was meant for children”: Russian crimes in Davydiv Brid in Kherson region Slidstvo.Info agency traced the path of the 27-year-old Viktoria uncovering the conditions of her detention in .. who for the first time shared her experience of imprisonment and what is .. The Command of the Ground Forces told Slidstvo.Info that Oscar was captured in Luhansk Oblast and has been .. The Russian occupiers have a new target on the Maryinka front They aim to gain control over the village of Novomykhailivka in the Donetsk region according to a statement from the spokesperson for the Defense Forces of the Tavria direction "The enemy is most active on the Maryinka and Avdiivka fronts and now they have a new objective - trying to advance towards Novomykhailivka to take it entirely," notes Shtupun Russians have been launching over fifty attacks on average per day in that area the occupiers are also more actively employing their armored vehicles and have intensified airstrikes Russian occupiers claimed to have supposedly fully captured Maryinka in the Donetsk region stating that Ukrainian defenders continued to fight for the city The next day, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, acknowledged that some Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Maryinka View image in fullscreenFur game … Yinka Shonibare's Revolution Kid (Fox). Photo: Christopher ThomondWhat we learned this weekThat a church in Tampa Bay looks like a chicken That we can get any picture we want made on Microsoft Paint through one man's Tumblr account That Steven Spielberg is set to become an art historian during the making of his Napoleon miniseries Why two bywords for death – Pompeii and Herculaneum – have been injected with new life That Luke Skywalker's house has gone to rack and ruin – and times are hard on Tatooine too That art does peculiar things to people – like convincing Labour councillors to support a Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham, and Tories to oppose it That New York's oldest art fair needs to keep an eye on its new competitors That the past is a foreign country, and art is a passport to it Share your art on the theme of light now Follow us on Twitter now Or check out our Tumblr Want to be the RA's new collection manager? Here's your chance Ukrainian military continues the battle for Maryinka in the Donetsk region the spokesperson for the Joint Press Center of the Tavria Defense Forces the Russians have not yet occupied the city our military is within the administrative boundaries of Maryinka It is incorrect to talk about the complete capture of Maryinka," he emphasized held a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and briefed him on the situation on the front he reported that Russian assault units allegedly completely captured Maryinka in the Donetsk region which is located 5 kilometers from Donetsk the occupiers intend to take control of the city to continue their advance westward towards Kurakhove A significant breakthrough in this section of the Russian front is considered unlikely For more details on the attempts of the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, you can find information in the material by RBC-Ukraine Russian troops continued localised offensives near Bakhmut Avdiivka and Maryinka and achieved confirmed successes there Russian troops continued localised offensives near Bakhmut and achieved confirmed success Geo-location data released on 11 December shows that Russian troops have recently advanced northwest of Klishchiivka (7 km southwest of Bakhmut) Russian sources have increasingly described the local offensive by Russian troops around Bakhmut as an operation around Chasovyi Yar (12 km west of Bakhmut) Russian military bloggers have described the Russian attacks west of Bakhmut in the area of Bohdanivka and Khromove and south of Bakhmut in the area of Klishchiyivka and Andriivka as an organised offensive on Chasiv Yar They also noted that it would be difficult to surround Chasiv Yar due to large Ukrainian fortifications and the location of the settlement at a tactical height ISW estimates that Russian troops are at least nine kilometres from Chasiv Yar Russian troops continued their offensive in the area of Avdiivka and advanced Geo-location imagery released on 15 December shows that Russian troops advanced in the area of Stepove (3km north of Avdiivka) and Pervomaiske (11km southwest of Avdiivka) Russian military bloggers claim that Russian troops have advanced near the railway line north of Stepove and have recently seized positions in a forested area north of Stepove Russian troops continued their offensive operations west and southwest of Donetsk and made confirmed gains Geolocation imagery released on 13 December showed Russian forces advancing in the western part of Maryinka (west of Donetsk) Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that on 14 December Ukrainian troops struck the occupied city of Mariupol in Donetsk region Geo-location images published on 14 and 15 December showed that Mariupol was hit by a heavy fire in two locations said that the second Ukrainian strike targeted the Port City shopping centre where Russian troops were storing military equipment The most important from online.ua in your mail By staying online, you consent to the use of cookies files which help us make your stay here even better  Based on your browser and language settings you might prefer the English version of our website