You can now contribute to the recovery of Ukraine’s cultural sites with this NFT project

Conceived by international content platform Depositphotos, The Revival Project is an initiative consisting of 38 unique charitable NFTs by seven independent Ukrainian creatives. Each one depicts an interpretation of a cultural site in Ukraine in the future – from museums and cultural centres to railway stations – with the artists interweaving “their own experiences, memories and fantasies” in the process. Among the sites reconstructed, over 20 have been destroyed in the war. The Revival Project hopes to not only showcase the exceptional cultural value of these sites but to raise funds for contributing to their recovery, transferred directly to the crypto wallet of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

A press release from Depositphotos explains that, since February 24 2022, over 450 cases of Russian war crimes have been committed against Ukraine’s cultural heritage. With “this number grow[ing] by the day”, Oleksandr Tkachenko, minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, says in the release, Ukraine’s culture and national heritage has seen almost six billion euros in damages. “That is why today, it is important to support modern initiatives and creative projects to restore Ukraine’s unique cultural heritage, involving as many interested people as possible in the process.”

Created in collaboration with Meta History museum and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, The Revival Project sees a broad array of artistic styles converge. Artist Zhanna Enikeeva, for example, has employed postage stamp aesthetics to reimagine sites such as the House of Organ and Chamber Music in Dnipro. Meanwhile, the design studio and duo OTOG contributes shimmering visions in 3D, drawing on personal memories. Stadium Azovstal in the seaside town of Mariupol, and Regional Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theatre in Lugansk are among the sites OTOG has reconstructed. Animated works from Tamara Safarova show sites with people using and interacting with the locations – an NFT of Chernihiv’s Olympic Sports Training Center reveals people training on a pitch at night.

“Every artist has a special connection with these cultural sites, making their works deeply personal,” explains the press release. Depositphotos' creative director Tati Timoshenko states: “It was a moment of creative courage to take on the rethinking of something that has historical and cultural value. It’s important to understand that we were working on concepts while shelling continued, when new cultural objects were being destroyed. It was necessary to find the strength to think about the good, the future and how Ukraine’s cultural heritage could be revived after the war.”

The choice to utilise NFTs hopes to bring further attention to the subject of Ukraine’s cultural rebuilding. “Attention to this phenomenon [NFTs] has long become widespread,” adds Tati. “Charitable projects only seem to benefit if they use game mechanics, storytelling and new technologies that allow more people to be involved. But, in addition to purchasing NFTs, we also left the option of making direct donations [here]."

The Revival Project site also features stories with 12 artists, designers, photographers and content creators – who were born and raised in different Ukrainian cities – on their unique memories of destroyed cultural sites. To purchase the initiative’s NFTs, discover the full Revival Project collection here.