Oranta
Daria Kalashnikova is a mixed media artist, her conceptual visual artworks dedicated to the ongoing war in Ukraine have been selected for the 2022 Biennial of Drawing (organised by OSTEN Skopje, North Macedonia) and the online gallery Brave.ua (organised by the leading Ukrainian creative agency "Banda")
Oranta
Daria Kalashnikova is a mixed media artist, her conceptual visual artworks dedicated to the ongoing war in Ukraine have been selected for the 2022 Biennial of Drawing (organised by OSTEN Skopje, North Macedonia) and the online gallery Brave.ua (organised by the leading Ukrainian creative agency "Banda")
October 2022 Daria Kalashnikova held her solo painting exhibition "The Traits of Tireless Freedom" at the EU House in Riga, Latvia
The painting 'Oranta' was the highlight of the exhibition "The Traits of Tireless Freedom".
In this work of art, Daria Kalashnikova interpreted the original Oranta icon, which is depicted on a thousand-year-old wall in St Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv and is called "indestructible" because it has been protecting Ukraine for eleven centuries.
When the artist went to the Riga Refugee Support Centre in August 2022 to receive a Red Cross food parcel, she saw a high wall of cardboard boxes containing the parcels.
Concept
Oranta
‘At that moment, I wanted to lean against that wall to feel its support,
as if it were the wall with the original Oranta in St Sophia's Cathedral. After I had received my food parcel, I asked the Red Cross volunteers for a piece of cardboard that had been left behind, and when I arrived at home in Riga, I drew a modern reproduction of the Oranta icon on it. To depict the ornaments and details of my modern reproduction of the icon, I used the grains and seeds from the food basket for the refugees. The way Ukrainians are succeeding every day in the war for their independence is a confirmation of our bravery, and that is why I depicted "Brave" in this painting. In the image of Oranta's face, I used motifs from a folk doll called "motanka". It is a popular amulet for children in Ukraine.’
Ultimately, the artist wants to paint murals of Oranta in many cities around the world that have hosted Ukrainian refugees, so that Oranta will protect not only Ukraine, but all the states that have supported the country and its people in their fight for freedom’.
October 2022 Daria Kalashnikova held her solo painting exhibition "The Traits of Tireless Freedom" at the EU House in Riga, Latvia
The painting 'Oranta' was the highlight of the exhibition "The Traits of Tireless Freedom".
In this work of art, Daria Kalashnikova interpreted the original Oranta icon, which is depicted on a thousand-year-old wall in St Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv and is called "indestructible" because it has been protecting Ukraine for eleven centuries.
When the artist went to the Riga Refugee Support Centre in August 2022 to receive a Red Cross food parcel, she saw a high wall of cardboard boxes containing the parcels.
‘At that moment, I wanted to lean against that wall to feel its support, as if it were the wall with the original Oranta in St Sophia's Cathedral. After I had received my food parcel, I asked the Red Cross volunteers for a piece of cardboard that had been left behind, and when I arrived at home in Riga, I drew a modern reproduction of the Oranta icon on it. To depict the ornaments and details of my modern reproduction of the icon, I used the grains and seeds from the food basket for the refugees. The way Ukrainians are succeeding every day in the war for their independence is a confirmation of our bravery, and that is why I depicted "Brave" in this painting. In the image of Oranta's face, I used motifs from a folk doll called "motanka". It is a popular amulet for children in Ukraine.’
Ultimately, the artist wants to paint murals of Oranta in many cities around the world that have hosted Ukrainian refugees, so that Oranta will protect not only Ukraine, but all the states that have supported the country and its people in their fight for freedom’.
Concept