Saving the Street Art of the Bombs: A True Story from Ukraine

Salvare la street art delle bombe: una storia vera dall’Ucraina

A documentary titled "Arte vs Guerra – Banksy e C215 a Borodyanka, Ucraina" will air on Sky Arte on April 26, recounting how street artists Banksy and C215 created murals in Borodyanka, Ukraine, shortly after the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The works include Banksy's "La Ginnasta" and "Davide e Golia," as well as C215's portraits of war victims like Dmytro Kotsiubaylo. The film also follows three Italian restorers—Paola Ciaccia, Alessandro Cini, and Maria Colonna—who risked their safety to preserve these murals from war damage and landmines.

‘We are trying to preserve the memory of our people’: archaeologists create map tracking damage to Iran heritage sites

Iranian archaeologists Sepideh Maziar and Mehrnoush Soroush have launched an interactive online map to document and geolocate cultural heritage sites in Iran damaged by military strikes. The map, hosted by the University of Chicago's CAMEL Lab, currently lists 69 verified sites, including the historic Sa'dabad Palace complex in Tehran, and is updated as new information becomes available.

Artist studios in Kyiv damaged by Russian drone strike for second time

A Russian drone strike on November 14 damaged the studios of Nahirna22, a collective of young artists based at the Kyiv Institute of Automation, for the second time in three months. The attack, which killed six people in Kyiv, shattered wooden windows and left studios covered in glass and rubble, though plastic windows installed after a previous strike in August survived. Co-founder Marta Nyrkova expressed uncertainty about whether the building can be repaired, while the collective plans a fundraising event and a sale of works in Berlin.

‘Proof that life goes on’: meet some of the people working to rescue—and re-energise—Ukrainian culture

Ukrainian cultural institutions and artists are actively restoring and creating art despite ongoing Russian attacks targeting the country's cultural identity. The Nahirna 22 arts collective in Kyiv, which runs 30 artist studios, was hit by air strikes in August that killed at least 23 people, damaging studios and forcing relocations. Meanwhile, the Mykhailo Boychuk State Academy of Decorative Applied Arts and Design in Kyiv, named after a Modernist executed in 1937, was struck by a Russian missile in 2024. Contractors in July 2025 recovered surviving works from the academy's archives, including paintings, textiles, ceramics, and student pieces, with support from UNESCO, the Japanese government, and Ukraine's culture ministry. A new conservation training program and exhibitions like Body/Fragility demonstrate ongoing cultural resilience.