Crosses for Ukraine

Crosses for Ukraine

A special exhibition will start in the War Museum in Overloon on October 12, which has its origins in the war in Ukraine. Blacksmith Serhii Polubotko, from Ukraine, received a wrought cross from a foreign colleague in 2022, with the text: for peace in Ukraine.

That gave Polubotko the idea to call on blacksmiths around the world to make crosses. More than 175 crosses have now been made, from countless countries around the world. From Norway to Chile, and from the Netherlands to… Ukraine. Those crosses arrived in Overloon in recent days. It was quite a challenge to get the crosses from Ukraine to the Netherlands, but in the end we succeeded. Partly because of this, the exhibition can be called unique. In addition to the special initiative, this number of crosses has never before been exhibited together.

All art smiths have each forged a cross based on their own message and in their own formal language, making it a very varied exhibition. The exhibition is a collaboration project with the Craft Blacksmiths' Guild of Belgium, which put the museum on the trail of these heavy wrought iron works of art. The crosses can be seen in Overloon until December 10, 2023.

The museum is also using this exhibition to reach out to Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands. Because the opening, which will take place on October 12, will be organized together with residents of the Municipal Ukraine Shelter. And Serhii Polubotko, who has now emigrated to New York, will also be present at the opening via video connection.