Artist Vitaliy Kokan has unveiled his new work titled "In Memory of All of Us" on the facade of school No. 165 located in Northern Saltivka, Kharkiv.

This was reported by the cultural platform "Past / Future / Art".

The artist left several text messages on the wall: "This wall has witnessed the horrors of war since February 24, 2022", "Mordor – 35 km", "F-16", and "Someone didn't leave". These texts are complemented by drawings including a car, a cat, a trident, a diode, a fruit plate, and a gun. Vitaliy Kokan created this work using his invented "font", which he conceived while observing Kharkiv 10 years ago. He extracted small square tiles from the damaged facade of a building.

"He seemed to have 'tattooed' several walls of the school, integrating them into the ruins so that they became part of the overall composition", the platform noted.

In 2022, the Russian army damaged all buildings in Saltivka. Some are being restored while others will be demolished. School No. 165 has repeatedly suffered from Russian attacks. After conversing with local residents and visiting Saltivka, Vitaliy Kokan decided to create his work specifically on this school.

"Memorialization through street art can be considered a temporary or situational approach to working with memory. The damaged structures in Saltivka, partially abandoned and lifeless, require new meanings. I see graffiti as a way to breathe life into mute facades", said Vitaliy Kokan.

The artwork can be viewed on the premises of school No. 165 at: Metrobudivnykiv St., 7.

Vitaliy Kokan hails from Sumy. He studied at the Sumy College of Arts and Culture named after D.S. Bortniansky and at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, specializing in monumental painting.

He is a regular participant and curator of the international land art symposium "Borderland Space" in the village of Mohrich, as well as a participant in the International Biennale of Youth Projects NonStopMedia.

In 2018, he was nominated for the PinchukArtCentre Prize. He has participated in the Memorialization Practices Laboratory and the memorial project competition for the victims of famines in Ukraine in Melitopol.

Vitaliy works with media such as sculpture, painting, graphics, installation, photography, video, and land art. The focus of his work is on the issues of collective memory.