Before it rose to prominence in the art world, street art was initially used as a powerful tool to protest against social and political injustice and promote peace. But in the last decades, street artists have put aesthetics as the focal point in their creations. When Russia recently began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, street artists all over the world used their creativity to call for peace – bringing the originally-subversive culture the way it used to be.
The Russo-Ukrainian war is currently causing Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. With over 9000 deaths and 1.5 million people displaced by the Russian military attack on Ukraine, the entire world could only hope and pray for the war to end. But street artists around the world knew that they could do something more. When people on social media expressed their support of Ukraine with #standwithukraine, prominent street artists joined the initiative by creating inspirational murals.
Street Art Calls For Peace And Stands Up For Ukraine
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Most of the pieces feature the national colors of Ukraine – blue and yellow – to show support to the country and its unrelenting defense of its freedom. The work of French artist Seth Globepainter, for example, depicts a flower-crowned girl holding the Ukraine flag and stepping on battle tanks. The touching mural adorns one of the walls in Butte-aux-Cailles in Paris, France.
Globepainter had been in Ukraine before and had created many beautiful murals in Kyiv and Donbas. Inspired by the children he met in Donbas, the girl on the mural represents the innocent children of Ukraine who deserve freedom and a peaceful life.
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Globepainter is one of the many street artists who are using the art as a medium to make their voices heard. For these artists, making murals as an entry point for peace building is the best way they could help. Some artists are also donating financially by selling their monographs and NFT collections with all proceeds going toward helping the cause.
While most of these murals foster peace with their call to stop the war, some artists chose to express condemnation to Vladimir Putin with murals mocking the Russian president.
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