A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The American collagist Barbara Kruger is known for her provocative art about power and identity. She's unveiled a new installation in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, inscribed on a passenger train. NPR's Hanna Palamarenko says it's intended to show solidarity with Ukraine during the war.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING IN TRAIN STATION)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
HANNA PALAMARENKO, BYLINE: This high-speed intercity train is about to depart from Kyiv's main station. Barbara Kruger and the Ribbon International project transformed the train's exterior into a canvas. The artwork is called "Untitled (Another Again)," and it includes a poem in Ukrainian covering nine train cars. Curator Maria Isserlis reads lines of the poem in English.
MARIA ISSERLIS: Another smile, another tear, another hope, another fear, another love, another year.
PALAMARENKO: The rhythm of the words is supposed to evoke the sound of a moving train. Next to Iserliz is Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, board chairman of Ukrainian Railways.
OLEKSANDR PERTSOVSKYI: A railway operates spaces which could be public spaces where people who do not have access to galleries, to museums - but they would get a little bit of a touch of this arts and culture.
PALAMARENKO: He says trains can be so much more than transportation.
PERTSOVSKYI: It's also very important symbolically to show Ukrainians that world-most-renowned artists stand by Ukraine. They do not give up on Ukraine.
PALAMARENKO: The ceremony opening the art project begins. It starts with a minute of silence to commemorate the fallen railroad workers.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLOCK TICKING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PERTSOVSKYI: We keep hearing that there is a sort of peace talks.
PALAMARENKO: Over the last few weeks, Russian attacks have killed and wounded more of Pertsovskyi's colleagues.
PERTSOVSKYI: But every morning, when I wake up to the operational reports and they say that our energy infrastructure, our core railway infrastructure, our important infrastructure been attacked, like, what is peace? Is this missile - is a peace treaty? Is...
PALAMARENKO: The train with Kruger's art installation will travel in Ukraine and abroad for two months. It carries a message of Ukraine's reality - facing the war and moving on, no matter what.
Hanna Palamarenko, NPR News, Kyiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF BECKY TRACY'S "EVERGREEN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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