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.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.