In Narva, another transformer booth turned into an art object

Mural in Narva is not the first work of Victoria Berezina in Estonia. Last year, a bus stop was painted in the city of Elva. Photo: Natalia Starostina

On the walls of one of the Narva substations this week, exotic flowers bloomed and fairy -tale characters appeared. The author of the work is Ukrainian artist Victoria Berezina.

The new mural is the result of the joint project of the Narva Center for informal training Vitatiim and the Estonian organization Mondo, which is engaged in global education, environmental issues and climatic changes.

As the Narva newspaper told the project manager Julia Dem, Mural at the substation at 13B Madise, was created as part of the initiative dedicated to climatic justice. April 8 at the Narva Estonian gymnasium will be held Event « Sinu Hääl, Sinu Mõju » (“Your voice, your influence”), on which young Narvites will discuss the influence of climatic changes on different regions of the world and possible decisions both on the local and global level. After the meeting, at 17:30, the official opening of a new art object will be held.

Special guests of the event are Kenysky climatic activists Abigail Kim and Elizabeth Vasutti, representing the youth environmental movement of their country on international platforms. Elizabeth is especially known for its initiative to combat dexterity: it independently landed more than 30,000 trees, becoming a symbol of youth activity and stability before the climatic crisis.

In the center of the composition is a tree of life composed of flowers, birds and foliage, and in his heart is a portrait of Elizabeth. Photo: Natalia Starostina

It was Elizabeth who inspired the artist to create a mural. “African motifs were intertwined in the work – a lion, an exotic bird (symbolizing Kenya and a hot African climate) and a traditional Ukrainian Petrikov painting,” said Julia Dem. An interesting detail: the lion on the wall seems to meet with the Swedish lion, which stands on a pedestal nearby.

“I have been living in Tartu for two years, I have my own studio in the creative quarter of Aparaaditehas,” says Victoria Berezina. -When I was offered to create a mural using the Petrikovskaya painting technique dedicated to the eco-activist, I immediately agreed. The story of Elizabeth Vasutti inspires me, and I wanted to show that one person is able to influence the entire ecosystem of his country, and even peace. In the center of the composition is a tree of life composed of flowers, birds and foliage, and in his heart is a portrait of Elizabeth.

Initially, the artist planned to create a small work with a size of 2 × 3 meters, but when she saw the scale of the walls, she decided to expand the project on all sides of the transformer booth so that the picture would look harmonious.

Work on Mural has been going on for two weeks and is close to completion. Victoria on a voluntary basis helps two assistants. One of them, the Narvity woman Elizaveta Yakovleva, is familiar to the artist in classes in the Tartu art school, where Victoria taught her the technique of Petrikovsky painting. The second assistant is the artist Maria Aleeva, with whom Victoria, as it turned out, studied at the same university in Kherson.

This mural is not the first in Narva, created as part of VitatiM projects. In the summer of 2023, the wall of the transformer booth at the Fama Keskus shopping center was painted.

Photo: Natalia Starostina