Kosenko-Yeats MR: Let there be no more war

Many artists have expressed the horror of war in their art. Through artists, we hear the voices of those who are suffering in war – regular people.

Together with nature scenes of Ukraine, the MR app features Yeats’s artwork “Grief” (1951). According to the National Gallery of Ireland, this painting may have been derived from an original sketch entitled “Let there be no more war” and can be read then as an anti-war statement, akin to Picasso’s “Guernica” (1937). “Grief” shows rows of soldiers with rifles and bayonets surrounding a rider on horseback who raises one arm in the air as if to lead a charge. In the foreground, a woman dressed in blue comforts a blond baby. To their left, an old man, bent double, reaches out his hands in despair.

The interactive MR scene allows you to experience Ukrainian nature in a field of sunflowers. If you open your palms, the birds will land in them. But be careful when walking: The Russian army has left mines after their occupation, which could explode. Go through Jack B. Yeats’ painting to see the message from the great Irish artist-symbolist. This memorial is also an expression of gratitude to Ireland and other European countries who hosted Ukrainian women and children fleeing from the war.

In the series “DreaMR” (Dreaming with Mixed Reality) by Haunted Planet Studios, Kosenko-Yeats MR stands as a nightmare, to remind humanity about the fragility of peace and the lives lost in the military machine.