An artist who fled Russia because of his anti-war stance has revealed a sculpture of a suitcase, mirroring the struggles of refugees.
The artwork, which will be on display at the Assembly Gardens in George Square until August 29, is built from reinforced steel which is also used to make prison bars in Russia. Kostya Benkovich, who fled Russia in March, was inspired after speaking with a Ukrainian refugee who told him: “My suitcase is all I have remaining of my former life.”
Describing the artwork, Benkovich said: “I had to flee Russia myself and have, to a certain extent, become an object of my own work because the suitcase is all I now have that connects me to the past.
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“The theme of the absence, or restriction of freedoms, and the recognition of the victims of the state repression reoccur in my work.”
The artwork is free to see, though viewers are invited to support humanitarian relief for refugees who have arrived in Britain by donating to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Britain via a QR code on the sculpture.
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