‘Alarm Bell: Memorial Day’ Art-Happening Event By Vlodko Kaufman

24.02.2023

On February 24, 2023, Clementii Sheptytskyi Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural (Shevchenkivskyi Hai) hosted a art-happening event ‘ALARM BELL: MEMORIAL DAY’.

The ALARM BELL project arose as a counteraction to the "psychological addiction" to the war, as a place of memory. The opening of the installation, which at that time collected 286 improvised "bells", took place on the occasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Day, on December 6, 2022 in Shevchenkivskyi Hai on the ancient bell tower from the village of Horosno. All this time, bells are added to the ALARM BELL, and this will continue until victory. By the anniversary there will be 365 people.

The installation uses not only canonical bells and bluebells, but also everything that can perform such a function: bullet&nbsp shells , mugs, sawn mines ... The team encourages everyone to participate - for example, commemorative bells "Dukh", "Artem" from the wives of dead soldiers, shell casings from the 103rd Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces, a pot for coffee brought from Crimea in 2014, and many other "bells of memory".

 The "tongues" of the bells were chained to the ground by improvised cords and the fire of trench candles, lit by the invited accomplices of the action, released them in a certain sequence. This allowed the memory to sound loudly, to cry, to beat the alarm. In conclusion, the reinforced and illuminated bells of the ALARM BELL created a common meditative space for all those present.