The Hedgehog Temple: A Tribute to Fallen Ukrainians at Burning Man
Kyiv Post
| August 31, 2023, 4:24 pm
At this year's Burning Man festival, a group from Ukraine showcased an installation called "The Hedgehog Temple." This installation is a special way to remember and respect the Ukrainians who lost their lives in the war.
The Ukrainian team created a sculpture that looks like a hedgehog. They used metal spikes called anti-tank "Czech hedgehogs" and covered them with a camouflage net. Yaroslav Korets, who leads the Ukrainian Burners group, said that the sculpture has two meanings: it shows Ukraine's strength and pays tribute to those who passed away.
The idea for the "Hedgehog Temple"war memorial came up when the festival organizers said the theme this year is ANIMALIA. Korets explained that they wanted to pay tribute to the Ukrainians who couldn't come to Burning Man because of the war.
"We want to share the stories of our friends from the creative community who were taken by the war. These are artists, DJs, musicians, and more. They could have been with us at Burning Man, but the war from Russia took them away," he said.
Beside the sculpture, there are more metal spikes with stories about the people who died. An artist named Oleksandr Slobodyanyuk asked everyone to share memories of their family or friends who passed away.
"We wanted to show that this war is not just a 'military conflict'." It is a people's war in which every conscious Ukrainian takes part. All the stories were sent by people whose loved ones died, although they should have been with us on Playa. These are artists, artists, musicians and other creative people," Oleksandr said.
Slobodyanyuk also added that they want to collect money to get vehicles to help evacuate people. This is to save those who are still in danger because of hostilities.
