Signal Festival and Maxim Velčovský: The designer had wrecked cars from Ukraine brought to Prague
Every year, Signal Festival tries to respond to current events both at home and in the world. With the fact that the preparation of the entire festival takes almost a year, it is not so easy. In the past, the organizers led to sustainability or the restart of culture after the pandemic. This spring again withhalf-initiated the Culture for Ukraine benefit event at Prague’s Kampa, on which more than 9 million crowns were collected to help the war-torn country.
And the help, or rather the reminder that just a few kilometers from our borders, an unbuildable hell of war is going on, continues even within the festival itself, which will take place from October 13 to 16. The designer Maxim Velčovský decided to create an installation on Mariánské náměstí from destroyed cars, which they had brought, for example, from Irpina, i.e. from the places where the fiercest fighting took place.
“But there are still people who question that there is a real war going on in Ukraine and thousands of civilians are dying. Fake testimonies circulate on the Internet, social networks are flooded with conspiracy theories and hateful comments. However, real statements from Ukraine are undeniable proof of what is happening just a short distance from our borders. I want to give my opportunity to people to see up close what war looks like. And that through the cars that we brought from the war zone,” said designer Maxim Velčovský.
Destruction by the Russian occupiers
Anyone who comes to see Mariánské náměstí not only will probably reach the reality of horror, even if it is mediated through a material thing, but most of all will read the stories of the owners, the cars parked in the square.
“I have an old house. So when the shelling started, I moved with my daughter and grandson to a friend’s house. His house was stronger, safer and further from Irpin where we lived. We are critical city infrastructure workers, so we couldn’t leave early. And then it was too late. The Russians were shooting at civilian cars. I could not risk the life of my family and loved ones,” Oleksandr Kovalchyk tells his story.
He and his family thought that they would wait a few days in the shelter, everything would improve and the chaos would end, but instead, around March 3, near their shelter, the Russians started firing from the Grad (Soviet 122 mm salvo rocket launcher, editor’s note). Two days later, the situation calmed down a bit, and Oleksandr sent his daughter and grandson to safety in the morning. “At 10:50 a Russian tank was already standing in front of our yard. Four of us stayed there. The shelling was more and more frequent. He fell silent when the tank was close. But as soon as he moved away, the mines started firing… We saw dead bodies of civilians on the streets. We saw civilian cars shot through and destroyed on Puškinská Street. It was scary. On March 7, we got a chance to get out,” continues Oleksandr.
They went to the village of Romanivka, where they managed to cross the most. So Oleksandr’s car stayed at home. “I left a car full of gas at home. The Russians tried to steal it but failed. I have problems with my legs, so the car used to be a big help… Not anymore. Now I’ve switched to cycling. Every year I drove to the resort of Kuyalnik in the Odesa region for treatment. This will no longer be possible. The Russian orcs destroyed all of this. It is sad that we had to go through all this, but thank God we are alive.”
People will read similar stories on Mariánské náměstí immediately 4. Among other things, about how Tetyane the Russians destroyed her very first Mini Cooper car, which she got from her parents, or about the bombed-out Jeep Cherokee, for which the Denises saved for a long time and repaired with their own hands, so that in the end the occupiers would destroy it anyway.
Maxim Velčovský about his installation Festival Signal
Maxim Velčovský will exhibit cars damaged during the war in Ukraine as part of the Signal Festival
Author: Signal festival