Monday, October 19, 2009

The impermanence of sand



I saw this on the BBC the other day and just about cried....actually I lie ...I did cry. What she does is beautiful and haunting.

Kseniya Simonova was the 2009 winner of Ukraine's got Talent. The 24 year old only began making these sand drawings on the beach a year ago and now uses much less sand, a portable lightbox and a soundtrack to help her tell her story. The stories she tells are of love and war, timeless and relevant the world over, set in the Ukraine during 'The Great patriotic War' (World War II. )In the Ukraine it was a conflict that killed between 8 and 11 Ukrainians, nearly 1 in 4, almost 20% of all the casualties suffered during the war. A truely devastating statistic in a country that was already reeling from Stalin's manufactured famines.

Once Kseniya's story is told it is swept away, merely sand again, back into a box, leaving behind emotion and memories.

3 comments:

Natalie said...

Isn't this just one of the most poignant things you have ever seen? Even my six-year old understood the beauty and gravity of this piece.

Connie said...

The story telling was amazing.. but the way she moved the sand was magic.

Amanda said...

Oh my goodness! That was the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. She is incredible! Thanks for sharing.