Icons on ammunition boxes

From ammunition boxes to icons: The exhibition showcases moving art against war – in April at the Cusanus Birthplace.

The idea of transforming ammunition boxes into art emerged in 2014, when the war in Ukraine was still confined to the eastern part of the country. The artist Oleksandr Klymenko had traveled to the front and saw the many empty boxes left behind by the fighting. He decided to use them as material for his icons, turning something deadly into a symbol of life. To this day, the artist duo Sonia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko collects ammunition boxes from the front line and paints them in the style of traditional icon art.

They use the ammunition boxes as they were found: they make no repairs, and the surface is not primed, as is customary in icon painting. The original features such as nails, stickers, hinges, or other traces remain visible. On this raw material, they paint the icons, using colors such as earth, sand, or coal from the immediate vicinity of the find location.

Over the years, the art pieces have led to the exhibition "Icons Against War," which has traveled through many countries and locations. In cooperation with the Pastoral Area of Bernkastel-Kues and the Pastoral Area of Wittlich, the Cusanus Birth House will display the exhibition throughout the month of April daily (except Mondays) from 12 - 5 PM. (Images: Renovabis and Molino-Verlag). The exhibition is complemented by images on the theme of peace from artists of the Wittlich association "Art at Hedges and Fences e.V."