Memory Cards

During the occupation of Irpin in March 2022, Russian shelling damaged portraits of Ukrainian soldiers who had died defending their country in the ATO zone. This became a symbol of a deeper attempt to erase memory, to wipe away the faces of our heroes, to undermine the spirit of the nation. The holes left on the portraits reminded me of punch cards old data storage media where information was read through perforations. Similarly, these damages became metaphorical carriers scars of our history that tell stories of pain, loss, and resilience.

In June 2025, Russia once again revealed its fear of the truth through a memorandum, calling the glorification of defenders “Nazism.” In reality, these were people who stood to defend their homes and their land. Russia is afraid of our memory. That is why we must continue to speak about heroism, about loss, about human dignity.  The “Memory Cards” project is a symbol that even wounds and holes can become vessels of strength and truth. We have no right to allow the occupiers to erase our past  because it is the foundation of our future.

2022