“Buy an Icon – Save a Life” is an art project of Kyivan artists Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko aimed at supporting the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (PFVMH), a non-government project that employs civilian medics to provide medical aid to both militants and civilians in the Joint Forces Operation (formerly Anti-Terrorist Operation) zone in Eastern Ukraine.
Exhibitions of the icons on ammo boxes, brought from the combat zone, have already been held at the European Parliament, Parliaments of Ukraine and Lithuania, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, and the Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine. The icons have been displayed in Antwerp, Berlin, Bloomington, Bonn, Catania, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Chicago, Edmonton, Frankfurt am Main, the Hague, Iași, Munich, Hanover, Leipzig, Lublin, Los Angeles, Milan, Montreal, Ottawa, Paris, Philadelphia, Prague, Radomyshl, Rome, Toronto, Vienna, Warsaw, and Winnipeg, as well as the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Fastiv, Lutsk, Lviv, Mariupol, Kamyanske, and Pokrovsk. Exhibitions of the icons on ammo boxes were also part of the 25th Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland, and the 8th Kyiv Security Forum, and were held in the University of Alberta in Canada, the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, and the Superior Institute of Religious Sciences of St. Thomas Aquinas in Kyiv.
The main idea of the project is the transformation of death (symbolized by ammo boxes) into life (traditionally symbolized by icons in Ukrainian culture). What is important, this victory of life over death happens not only on the figurative and symbolic level but also in reality…
More on the project development history here >>>
Most of the icons below are in the collections of museums, galleries, and private persons, as well as in churches, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. It means that to buy an icon painted on an ammo box board you first need to order one by proceeding in two simple steps:
1. Donate an amount equivalent to the icon price to the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (please go to the Support PFVMH page); and
2. Email us a confirmation of your donation, specifying the icon you are ordering (e.g., “Our Lady with the Child 46х51cm”) and providing the address to where the icon should be delivered (at icons@medbat.org.ua);
Your order will be fulfilled within one to six months after your donation.
 #1 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady with the Child 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. Board origin: near Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast. The box was brought by PFVMH volunteers $2,700 |
 #2 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Savior 45х51cm Weaponry box fragment, camouflage fabric, acryl. Board origin: Avdiyivka Industrial Zone, Donetsk Oblast. The box was brought by PFVMH volunteers $2,500 |
 #3 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint George and the Dragon 48х53cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera. Board origin: Avdiyivka Industrial Zone, Donetsk Oblast $2,700 |
 #4 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of Zhyrovitsy 45х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera. Board origin: Avdiyivka Industrial Zone, Donetsk Oblast $2,600 |
 #5 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Nicholas 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera. Board origin: near Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. The board was a present given by Ukrainian Marines $2,700 |
 #6 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Archangel Barachiel 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera. Board origin: near Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. The board was a present given by Ukrainian Marines $2,500 |
 #7 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Apostle Peter 35х40cm AKM ammunition box lid, tempera. Board origin: near Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. The board was a present given by Ukrainian Marines $2,200 |
 #8 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of Brotherhood Monastery 35х40cm Ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #9 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady on Camouflage Fabric 35х40cm AKM ammunition box board, camouflage fabric, acryl. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #10 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Savior on Camouflage Fabric 35х40cm AKM ammunition box board, camouflage fabric, acryl. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #11 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Apostle Peter 35х40cm AKM ammunition box board, camouflage fabric, acryl. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #12 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady the Never-fading Blossom 35х40cm AKM ammunition box lid, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,100 |
 #13 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #14 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Seven Arrows (The Softener of Evil Hearts) 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #15 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Nicholas 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, camouflage fabric, acryl. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #16 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Guardian Angel 35х40cm AKM ammunition box board, camouflage fabric, acryl. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #17 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint John the Evangelist 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #18 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Matthew the Evangelist 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #19 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Luke the Evangelist 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #20 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Apostle Paul 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #21 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Head of Saint John the Baptist 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,000 |
 #22 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity with their mother Sophia 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera, gold leaf. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,100 |
 #23 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Barbara 35х40cm AKM ammunition box bottom, tempera. The box was a present given by officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine $2,100 |
 #24 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Holy Face (Mandylion) on Camouflage Fabric 35х40cm AKM ammunition box lid, acryl. Board origin: village of Pisky, Donetsk Oblast $2,100 |
 #25 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Nicholas 45х85cm Ammunition box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The board was brought from Pisky village $4,000 |
 #26 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Savior 39х112cm Shell box fragment, tempera. Place of origin: Popasna. The box was brought by PFVMH staff $4,500 |
 #27 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of Bogolyubovo 31х89cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Novotroitske $3,700 |
 #28 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Softener of Evil Hearts 31х89cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Novotroitske $3,700 |
 #29 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of Kozelschyna 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Horlivka $2,600 |
 #30 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Avdiyivka $2,600 |
 #31 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko Saint Archangel Michael 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Horlivka $2,700 |
 #32 Sofia Atlantova & Oleksandr Klymenko The Crop Saver 46х51cm Weaponry box fragment, tempera, gold leaf. The box was brought by PFVMH staff from near Avdiyivka $2,600 |
| Video: “Art that Saves Lives: Contemporary Ukrainian Icon Painting. Originally presented at the Folklore Lunch organized by the Kule Folklore Center at the University of Alberta on October 6, 2017” |
