Icons of Ukrainian orthodox saints painted on the lids of ammunition boxes have earned international recognition. They were displayed in European Parliament, the 2023 NATO Summit and 111 cities across Europe. Now, for the first time they are on display at St Giles’ Cathedral, in the very heart of Scotland’s capital.

The project is jointly presented by Sunflower Scotland and Spiders 4 Ukraine.
For those visitors who preserve the memory of Ukraine’s heroic struggle, the organisers have agreed that the icons can be purchased after the exhibition. All profits raised from the sale of the icons will be used to purchase evacuation vehicles and ambulances to save lives at the front line. Please contact us for quote.
Date and time
Dates: 27th January – 13th February.
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10 am – 5 pm, Saturday 9 am – 5 pm, Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm.
Address: St Giles’ Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RE
Admission is free, but visitors are encouraged to support St Giles’ Cathedral by their donations.


About the icons
The icons combine seemingly incompatible things: the attributes of modern war (boards from used ammunition boxes) and the ancient artistic language dating back to the European Middle Ages (icons in the the Byzantine style).

Russia’s horrific war against Ukraine has killed tens of thousands of innocent people and displaced millions. Mothers with small children have suffered the most. The image of the Mother of God and her Child profoundly represents the symbolic battle between good and evil, love and hatred, life and death. It surpasses Christian tradition, embodying an archetypal figure.
The ammunition boxes used as canvases for the painted icons were brought back by Ukrainian soldiers from the deadliest battle zones, including Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Popasna.
Thus, these icons become silent yet profoundly expressive witnesses of the war.

The artists
Sonya Atlantova is an artist and writer born in 1981 in Kyiv. She studied at the Taras Shevchenko Art School and the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Her prose has been shortlisted for several literary awards, including the BBC Book of the Year. Sonya was awarded the third-degree Order of Merit for her work on the project of Icons on ammunition boxes, and has been nominated twice for the Shevchenko National Prize.
Oleksandr Klymenko, born in 1976 in Kyiv, is an artist, art critic and writer. He is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Oleksandr graduated from the
National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture and completed postgraduate studies at the M. Rylsky Institute of Art History, Folklore, and Ethnology. He has taught at the M. Boychuk Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Art and Design. Oleksandr is the original author of the “Icons on Ammunition Boxes” project. He has been nominated three times for the Shevchenko National Prize.
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