Street Art for Borodyanka: Art Against Bombs

The Italian Chamber of Commerce for Ukraine and the REA - Restoration and Art - team are currently engaged in a important project to rescue works of art by street art artists Bansky and C215.

The REA team recently traveled to Ukraine with the mission of rescuing some street art works in Borodyanka municipality. After a long and arduous journey, CEO Alessandro Cini and restorers Paola Ciaccia and Maria Colonna began on July 20 the operations to remove the works from unsafe buildings in the outskirts of Borodyanka which will have to be demolished in order to reconstruct new buildings.

The first artwork on which they have begun recovery work is by Banksy, but there are many other incredible works by French artist C215 awaiting their turn. Crucial work has already been done on Banksy's "Gymnast" and "David and Goliath," such as consolidation of the paint film and cleaning. Unfortunately, bad weather prevented the work on C215's artworks from being completed.

A team of experts is looking for a safe place to preserve these pieces of art. The Borodyanka House of Culture seems to be the ideal location, but it requires adjustment to safely and suitably host these unique works. This space will later be transformed into an exhibition hall, and the income generated by the museum will be used to support the city's reconstruction process. The recovery of these works is crucial to the Borodyanka municipality, which believes this project will preserve the history of Ukraine: preserving history with an eye to the future.

REA will return to Ukraine from October 7 to 16, 2023 in order to finish the first phase of the project. The Italian Chamber of Commerce for Ukraine has launched a fundraising campaign in order to concretely support this project and collect donations with the aim of covering the expenses required to complete this ambitious recovery project.