“Empty beds”: an installation dedicated to Ukrainian children was opened in New York

Installation “Empty beds”/Phil Buehler

American artist Phil Buehler created the exhibition “Empty Beds” in Manhattan to draw attention to the Russian war crime – the deportation of Ukrainian children.

Buehler's project is called ” Empty beds.” It opened last week in New York's East Village. This is reported by The Guardian.

The art installation “Empty Beds” is a thirty-meter mural with images of empty children's beds. It can be seen on one of the central streets of Manhattan. It contains photographs of the beds of 994 children who were successfully returned from Russia or the occupied territories since 2022.

The mural was created by photographer Phil Beler and the Bird of Light Ukraine organization as part of the “Bring Kids Back UA” initiative and with the participation of Save Ukraine and the Ukrainian Network for Children's Rights. It aims to draw the attention of the world community to the extent of violations of the rights of Ukrainian children.

These beds belong to children whom Ukraine managed to return home. Each photo tells the real story of one Ukrainian child, behind whom there are thousands more who were illegally deported by Russia and continue to do so every day. The main goal of the enemy is to erase the Ukrainian identity of children and turn them into enemies of their own country. They are forced to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship, forcibly issued Russian passports, forced to attend Russian schools, blackmailing families by depriving them of their parental rights, the report says.

The author of the project photographed the beds of only those children who were returned, so not to harm the investigation or the return of the children still detained. Moreover, the artist managed to meet eight children who were returned.

Installation “Empty Beds”/Phil Buehler

Previously, in 2023, the artist created an exhibition in the East Village dedicated to war crimes in Irpen, Kyiv region: “Please do not forget us” depicted the dump of civilian cars in Irpen.