Ukrainian soldiers instead of Cossacks. French artist recreates Illia Riepin's famous painting in photo
French artist Emeric Lhuisset has recreated a painting by Ukrainian artist Illia Riepin, Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan, in a photo. The painting depicts the modern Ukrainian troops instead of the Cossacks.
The title of the work is I Hear the Cossacks’ Response from Afar, as reported by the BBC.
The artist spent a year working on the project. It features soldiers of the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade. The figure in the centre is Roman, the author of the Ukrainian catchphrase "Russian warship, go f**k yourself" (the final communication made on 24 February, the first day of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, by Ukrainian border guard Roman Hrybov to the Russian missile cruiser Moskva – ed.).
On his Instagram account, the photo's author noted the importance of culture in war.
"While the war intended to conquer the Ukrainian territory is visible to all and its condemnation relatively consensual in Europe, the much more insidious war which is being played out around the control of history and culture remains very much unknown and many Europeans participate, often unconsciously, to the diffusion of this Russian colonial construction," Emeric said.
He believes culture is a weapon on a vast battlefield, so we should not forget about it.
Background: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recognised the artists Illia Riepin and Ivan Aivazovskyi as Ukrainians.
We also reported on the graffiti left by the famous street artist Banksy in the settlement of Borodianka in Kyiv Oblast.
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