Kyiv Mural Included In Top 7 List By Dutch Street Art Site

Photo credit: Streetart.today

Euromaidan isn’t the only revolution in Ukraine. There has also been an artistic revolution.

Since 2015, dozens of globally acclaimed street artists have flocked to Kyiv to give its worn-out Soviet walls a colorful makeover. The artists come as part of the CityArt project launched in 2015 by Geo Leros, a Ukrainian film director and advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Information.

Kyiv’s renovations are not going unnoticed across the globe. On November 29, the Amsterdam-based street art promotion platform Streetart.today named one of Kyiv’s latest artworks — called “Rise up in the Dirt” — among the best murals of November.

The painting, which stretches across the wall of Kyiv’s Pechersk district police department, depicts a set of male hands scooping up earth around a flower. Dirty screws, bullets, lighters, and batteries litter the ground by the delicate flower.

According to Leros, “Rise up in the Dirt” is the first mural in the world to appear on the wall of a police department building. The artwork was created by New York-based female street artist BKFOXX.

BKFOXX — who previously painted murals in France, Sweden and the U.S. — started working on “Rise up in the Dirt” at the end of October. However, due to rainy weather conditions, she did not complete the mural until November 23.

Over the last several years, dozens of new street artworks have been appearing on Kyiv walls. There is even a mobile app, “Kyiv Murals,” allowing interested residents and visitors to track the paintings. The app places the murals on a map and contains information about them. Also available in English, “Kyiv Murals” currently lists 149 artworks by 28 artists.

/By Maria Romanenko