Stolen Art a joint project by Oliz brand and UNITED24

Stolen Art is a charitable collection of silk shawls by OLIZ and UNITED24.

"Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russians have taken away exhibits from 40 Ukrainian museums. However, Russians have been carrying out this shameful practice for hundreds of years. This project tells the story of three works, from different historical periods, that share a common fate." Stolen Art project

The Red Sunset by Arkhyp Kuindzhi, the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica mosaic, which decorated St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, and the painting of the house of Ukrainian artist Polina Rayko. Each shawl is your assistant in cultural diplomacy, as well as an opportunity to tell the truth about the stolen Ukrainian treasures to the world.

The shawl depicts Arkhyp Kuindzhi's famous work "Red Sunset", which the artist worked on in 1905-1908. Kuindzhi was born in Mariupol and came from an ancient family of Greeks who had lived in the Black Sea region since ancient times. His most famous works depict Ukrainian landscapes. The painting of the sunset over the Dnipro River is considered one of the artist's last masterpieces.

The painting is in the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The original sketch was kept in the Mariupol Art Museum named after Arkhyp Kuyindzhi. In the spring of 2022, the museum was destroyed by a russian air strike, and more than 2,000 works were stolen. Among them was a priceless sketch. Its destiny is currently unknown.

The shawl reproduces a piece of the painting of the house of Ukrainian artist Polina Rayko in Oleshky, Kherson region. Rayko is a unique artist, a representative of naïve art, who, without any artistic education, turned her house into a real work of art in six years. Here, her dreams came to life on the walls - amazing animals and fairy-tale plants of incredible beauty. After the artist's death, her house was turned into a museum.

On June 6, 2023, the russians blew up the Kakhovka HPP, and the house was flooded with water. Most of the paintings were lost forever. Currently, Oleshky is occupied by Russians.

This shawl features a unique mosaic. An unknown craftsman created it in the early twelfth century for St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in the heart of Kyiv. It decorated the church for almost a thousand years and survived the Mongol invasion, earthquakes, and fires. 

In 1937, soviets destroyed the cathedral: it was blown up in front of the entire city. The mosaic was removed and taken to Moscow in 1938. Today it is in the main museum of russia, the Tretyakov Gallery.

This shawls are also a symbols of our belief that one day justice will prevail. Everything stolen will return home. Everything destroyed will be restored. That's why the proceeds from the sale of the collection will be directed towards restoring residential buildings in Kyiv region under UNITED24 rebuild programme.