At the Burning Man Arts and Music festival each year a giant wooden effigy goes dramatically up in flames. This year the artwork had special significance.
Designed by Ukrainian artists, the piece, titled ‘Phoenix’ was symbolic of the people rising from the ashes after the bloody war.
Just before the “burn,” audio of explosions and air raid sirens rang out around the installation while an opera singer arrived seemingly out of nowhere to perform a song in Ukrainian.
“It’s important to show that Ukrainians are not just victims of aggression but we … are a big culture,” said Oleksiy Sai, one of the artists behind “Phoenix,” on a video call from Kyiv on Wednesday.
All the artists agreed that they hoped that burning “Phoenix” could help bring further attention to Ukraine’s plight.