Kramatorsk. Street Art, or a Street of Murals

Since October 2019, huge pictures have adorned the walls of buildings in Kramatorsk, executed so masterfully that they are indistinguishable from photographs. Dull pre-war buildings on Marata Street and two buildings on Akademichna Street were chosen for the street art. The large-scale wall paintings were created by professional artists, true wizards, invited to Ukraine from various countries.

Mural art — street art intended, beyond brightening large surfaces, to carry a particular idea or meaning. Bright, realistic sketches resemble graffiti and have been familiar to humankind all over the planet since those distant times when primitive people first felt a craving for creativity and decorated their dwellings with cave paintings.

Building No. 3 on Marata Street was built in 1934. A plaque has survived on its wall attesting to the socialist upkeep of the home by its residents.

As part of the "You are East" project, the writers gave an attractive look to two end walls of a four-storey building. The Spanish artist David Esteban used his creation to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution of the environment. A child's pinwheel made of packaging material and cocktail straws seems to ask what we will leave to the next generations.

On the reverse side, the US artist Eric Burg saw the industrial region as blooming and appealing. The muralist created a canvas of pink roses and named it "Not a Wall, but a Door".

The colours of golden autumn inspired the Italian decorator of cheerless walls Fabio Petani, who speaks very warmly of Kramatorsk and wanted to contribute to the revival of this industrial centre of the Donbas. His mural "Cast Iron and Lotus", depicting a mountain lake, introduces the townspeople to European landscapes from the eastern side of building No. 4.

The western wall served as a space for the flight of fancy of the Belgian maestro Pierre Rodrigues. His Perseus, who frees the beautiful Andromeda and slays the monster, symbolises triumph and victory.

The French muralist Alexis Stefanis, besides painting, is passionate about dancing, and at an international break-dance championship he met the Donetsk dancer Uzee Rock. Now the breaker is depicted on the wall of building No. 2. The mural is completed by the inscription "Free Your Emotions".

Industrial Kramatorsk surprised the painter from Belgium with its abundance of parks and green oases. The master of the brush, who goes by the creative name Nin, embodied the idea of harmony between man and nature, depicting a bouquet of plants on a man's back. It is a pity that the beautiful panel is spoiled by air conditioners mounted on the wall.

Akademichna Street presents two murals. The Spanish wildlife artist Jose Crasser, travelling around the world, paints animals to draw attention to their protection. For Kramatorsk he chose a fox listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

Akademichna St., 41. Mural 

On building No. 57, the abstraction by the Belgian artist Corentin Bernard is called "Ascension" and symbolises our country. The depicted woman looks ahead, confident that her goal is attainable.

The colourful transformation of Kramatorsk's tiresome Stalin-era apartment blocks continues.

Coordinates of the murals on Marata Street: 48°44'39 "N 37°35'10"E,
 on Akademichna Street, 57 — 48°44'13"N 37°35'4"E