Bali Becomes a Witness of Collaboration between Russians and Ukrainians Through Works with the Meaning of Unity

 

Bali Becomes a Witness of Collaboration between Russians and Ukrainians Through Works with the Meaning of Unity

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still ongoing to this day. Although it has been seen that there have been several negotiation meetings attended by a number of people, ranging from the leaders of each country to other state officials, the bright spot on when the conflict will end is still not visible.Of course, no one wants the conflict to happen, especially the citizens of both Russia and Ukraine. Some can only hope that the conflict will end soon, some go directly to the field to protect what must be protected, a small number of them try to voice the push for peace in different ways, even though they are on the opposite side.

Recently, an example of an act of voicing peace by two citizens on opposite sides has just taken place and has caught the eye. What makes it special is that one of the regions in Indonesia, namely Bali, has witnessed the peace campaign.

A calligraphy artist from Russia named Pokras Lampas, and a villa complex owner in North Kuta, Bali named Alex Shtefan, agreed to work together to promote peace and unity through an artwork in the form of giant calligraphy.

The calligraphy in question is a sentence that reads "United World" made in six languages ​​namely Russian, Ukrainian, English, Chinese, French, and Indonesian. The calligraphy was made on the roof of Alex's 9 villa building, which stands on an area of ​​960 square meters. "This work is not a political statement, it is a cultural statement and a social statement, about people and the way we can unite together to create a harmonious future," said Russian artist Pokras Lampas, citing Reuters.

Lampas himself is indeed known as an artist who often produces calligraphy works with a unique appearance according to his identity, and he calls it 'Calligrafuturism'. Meanwhile, in the process of making a work that voices unity, it is stated that it will take about three weeks.

Planned before the conflict occurs

Still according to the same source, the surprising part is the fact that the plan to produce the artwork appeared before the conflict between Russia-Ukraine actually occurred at the end of last February.Lampas, who claimed to have been in Bali since December, said the idea had been developed with a group of friends from Ukraine. And now, the work is more valuable according to him because it becomes more meaningful.

Shtefan as a native of Ukraine who is known to have managed a villa complex in Bali for six years also expressed the same thing, he said that if the artwork was in accordance with the values ​​and meanings he wanted to convey, and was expected to send an important message to all parties in the world, especially Russia and Ukraine. "We can show in our villa to the world our idea that the world needs to come together," Shtefan said.

Meanwhile, at the same time, both Shtefan and Lampas admitted that they were equally shocked by the unfortunate war that had to occur in Ukraine. According to Lampas, if there really is a best way to negotiate and stop the conflict, it should be done immediately. Meanwhile, Shtefan at the same time revealed that as a citizen of Ukraine, he admits that the two countries are actually very close like brothers. "Russia and Ukraine have always been like brothers, we have always been close, we have always helped each other and even we look alike."

Meanwhile, at the same time, Bali seems to have succeeded in proving its territory as a place that promotes tolerance not only for the people of Indonesia, but also for the world community. The action to voice unity and fight the conflict carried out by Lampas and Shtefan is apparently not the first time that has happened since the Russo-Ukrainian conflict broke out. Previously, in the early stages of last March, an act of voicing peace was also carried out by an environmental organization based in Bali, namely Sungai Watch, with an artist from Germany, named Liina Klauss.

They are known to have made an art installation in the form of a sentence that reads 'Make Art Not War' which runs along the Pangkung Tibah Village road, Tabanan, Bali, which divides the rice fields on both sides of the road.