The land is a carrier of memory

The land remembers: the hands of an agronomist sowing wheat, the hum of a combine harvester, the rustle of a scythe, the thud of a falling apple.
Children’s laughter in tall grass, the taste of rain and the chill of snow.

Today, Ukrainian land remembers something else — the sounds of explosions and their consequences. Yet at the same time, it is recovering. The voices of those bringing life back to cleared territories are growing louder. To amplify these voices, together with UNDP and in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, we launched a nationwide awareness campaign on humanitarian demining as one of the country’s key priorities.

The project launched with its central element — an interactive installation. It consists of ten transparent cylinders filled with real Ukrainian soil from regions contaminated with explosive hazards. This soil is a symbol of resilience and recovery.

Ten cylinders — ten human stories: deminers clearing explosive remnants of war, farmers restoring their fields, residents rebuilding their homes. Each one is a fragment of liberated land — a personal story of survival and hope.

An interactive website with a map of Ukraine became the online extension of the installation. Users can select a region and hear how the land remembers — and how life gradually returns: stories of work, recovery, and the possibility of living without fear.

Over time, an eleventh cylinder will be added to the installation — empty. It will represent all Ukrainian territories, to which access remains unavailable.

The installation was officially opened at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater. In April, the updated installation was presented in the central atrium of the Gulliver Shopping Mall.