Nezlamna / Unbreakable mural in Vilnius

Mural ‘Nezlamna/Unbreakable’ in Vilnius honors the strength of the Ukrainian people.
It is dedicated to the unbreakable will power of the people of Ukraine to defend their Freedom, as well as to the importance of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage that strengthens communities and nations.
At the center of the mural is Tetiana Drobotia from Zaporizhzhia. This determined young woman wears the costume with national patterns created by the Ukrainian designers. She stands on a rock in Zaporizhzhia after the Kachovka dam explosion.
The new work reflects the tragic realities of war using an image from a series of photographs taken by photographer Elena Tita at the coast of Khortitsa island, national reserve park, one week after the Nova Kackhovka dam explosion. The reservoir was drained of water when Russia blew up the Kachovka dam.
At the center of the mural is Tetiana Drobotia from Zaporizhzhia, dressed in a costume created by Ukrainian designers for this fresco. It is an interpretation of the national costume whose fabric embodied Ukraine’s contemporary identity as a young, beautiful and courageous country. Vyshyvanka is seen here, as well.
Vyshyvanka, a richly embroidered traditional blouse, is a crucial part of Ukrainian cultural identity It acquired a particularly strong symbolic meaning during the Maidan uprising in 2014, which has been reinforced during the Russian-led war against Ukraine. During wartime, intangible cultural heritage brings communities together, but it is as fragile and vulnerable as tangible cultural assets. The preservation of intangible heritage depends on communities not being scattered, and on a dignified and secure environment in which to nurture it.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). To mark the occasion, initiatives are being held all over the world to promote, support and create living traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage.
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Organisers:
Arts Agency Artscape
Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO
Sponsors:
Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Turto bankas
Partners: art laboratory ‘Kiaurai sienas’, Go Vilnius
Main creative team: art director Lina Šlipavičiūtė (Lithuania), Robot Muralist (Estonia), model Tetiana Drobotia (Ukraine), photographer Elena Tita (Ukraine)
Costume: dress and necklace - designer George Lvov (Ukraine); crown - Natalia Boiko (Ukraine); costume consultant - Serhiy Bilivnenko (Ukraine), Doctor of History, expert in social anthropology, Associate Professor at the Department of History, Zaporizhzhia National University.