On 7 September, on the eve of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, parishioners of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia were able to see a unique exhibition near their church, consisting of 20 impressive 4D paintings, 20 flags and 20 stories of heroic resistance over the 19 months of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
The author of the paintings is Volodymyr Lapshov. Each of the presented works is made in a unique author's technique and consists of more than 1,500 wooden cubes. As the author explained, he chose this technique because the cubes symbolise "pixels" - a symbol of the uniform of the Ukrainian military. And at the same time, they are like "puzzles" of a single whole and remind us that Ukrainians in this war share the same pain and one common main goal.
Metropolitan Symeon blessed the exhibition and read a prayer before the start of the good deed. The paintings will be exhibited in Vinnytsia and then in other cities of Ukraine. The Archpastor wished Volodymyr Lapshov creative inspiration and God's help in his work. Metropolitan Symeon also wished that the artist's best work would be a painting depicting Ukraine's victory.
The paintings, which were exhibited on the territory of the Transfiguration Cathedral, next to the memorial plaques with the names of fallen warriors from Vinnytsia, featured, among others, Kateryna Polishchuk, the "Birdie" from Azovstal, and Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a warrior who was shot by the occupiers for speaking out: "Glory to Ukraine", the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi and other heroes of Ukraine.
The cubes used to make the paintings were brought from different parts of Ukraine, including Bucha, Kherson, Chornobaivka, Mostyska, which for many women, children and the elderly was the last Ukrainian town before being forced to leave for abroad. The author also cut into cubes the "trophies" handed over by the soldiers: a box of shells that the boys took from the russians. There was even a wooden stool that they used to sit on in tanks, boards and branches that they used in their trenches. In total, Volodymyr Lapshov used more than 30 thousand small wooden cubes from different regions of Ukraine in his 20 paintings.
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
