Artist Nikita Kadan creates art installation from debris of destroyed thermal power plant
Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan has created a new installation from a piece of debris from one of DTEK's thermal power plants that was damaged by a Russian attack [DTEK is the largest private energy company in Ukraine – ed.]. The artist shaped it into the form of a flag. The work can be seen at an exhibition at the Artsvit Gallery in Dnipro.
Source: DTEK
Quote: "This work has become another powerful symbol of the resilience of Ukrainian energy workers during the war."
The exhibition featuring the work is entitled "When I am in Ukraine, everyone asks me about Poland. When I am in Poland, everyone asks me about Ukraine." It is a solo exhibition by Polish artist and curator Waldemar Tatarczuk. The project is divided into two parts. The first brings together works created in collaboration with Ukrainian artists, including not only Nikita Kadan but also Zhanna Kadyrova, Stanislav Turina, Pavlo Kovach Jr., Kateryna Aliinyk, and others. The exhibition can be visited until 14 March 2026.
Nikita Kadan is a Ukrainian artist and a winner of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2022). He works with installations, sculpture, painting, and collage. He has represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial (2015), the Busan Biennale of Contemporary Art (2018), and the Montevideo Biennial (2023). This year, he was included in one of the world's most authoritative art rankings, Power 100, compiled by the UK publication ArtReview.
Background: Earlier, director Anton Shtuka made a film about Ukrainian energy workers entitled The Last Prometheus of Donbas. The documentary tells the story of employees at the Kurakhove Thermal Power Plant. Just 10 kilometres from the front line, despite constant attacks, energy workers continue to work at the last active power plant in the unoccupied part of Donetsk Oblast.
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