Oksana Shachko

I am

FEMEN

1987 – 2018

VIRTUAL MUSEUM

ofOKSANA SHACHKO

Welcome to the Virtual Museum dedicated to memory of artist and activist Oksana Shachko.

Bringing together works, video materials, texts, and photographic documentation, this digital archive offers a glimpse into feminism and the political transformations of the 2010s and their continuing resonance today.

Oksana Shachko
Bio

Oksana Shachko (31 January 1987, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine — 23 July 2018, Paris, France) was a Ukrainian artist, feminist activist, and revolutionary. From an early age, she studied at the Nikosha School, where she specialized in Orthodox icon painting — a discipline traditionally reserved for adults.

As a child, she participated in numerous group exhibitions organized by the school. At the age of ten (1997), she received her first commission to create church frescoes in Khmelnytskyi and, at that time, aspired to become a nun. However, after graduating from art school, she chose a different path and enrolled at Khmelnytskyi Free University.

During her university years, she began studying philosophy, which profoundly transformed her worldview. For ideological reasons, Shachko stopped painting icons, though she continued to develop her artistic practice.

From 2003 to 2009, she was a co-founder and active participant as an artist in the women's youth organization New Ethic. In 2005, together with friends, she co-founded the communist youth organization Centre of Youth Initiative, with a focus on fostering collective discussion of socially important issues and encouraging civic engagement.

In 2008, she took part in the creation of the feminist group FEMEN in Khmelnytskyi, aimed at confronting corrupt capitalist and patriarchal political systems in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Within a year, the group relocated to Kyiv. Between 2011 and 2014, she worked on the documentary Je suis Femen, directed by Alain Margot.

In 2015, she participated in the group exhibition 8 ± 2 at Galerie Mansart in Paris. In 2016, she presented her first solo exhibition ICONOCLASTE in Paris, and her works entered private collections.

This was followed by numerous other solo and group exhibitions, including in Paris, Brussels, and Copenhagen. In 2017, she enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her last exhibition took place in Paris in June 2018. Her icons, including a triptych of Orthodox crosses transforming into Kalashnikovs, were then exhibited as part of the "Talking about a Revolution" exhibition dedicated to the revolution and May 68, at the 22 Visconti gallery.

Oksana Shachko died on 23 July 2018 in her Paris apartment at the age of 31. She left a note with the message: "You are fake."

I want to rouse the people to revolt!

Oksana Shachko (1987–2018, artist, activist, revolutionary)

Activism

"How such a beautiful woman who you normally see in a beauty salon can be a feminist? I used to see her in pornography, in newspapers, in my bed, or in the kitchen. I am not used seeing this object protesting," - Anna Hutsol, co-founder of the feminist activist movement FEMEN.

Police

through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

Bus protest

through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

"Since 2008, we have been fighting against this system, and for the law, with our means, in the name of personal freedom but also in the name of humanity, to defend the rights of women and their place in society. These aren't big words: I need to be able to lead by example if I believe in what I'm doing.

We thus protested against Putin, against the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko.

I was arrested, covered in feathers and dyed green, beaten, tortured. I thought the end was near.

I am psychologically ready to be disfigured or killed, even if I, like everyone, experience fear in everyday life."

Memorials

The memorials, created by sculptor Kostiantyn Stryutskyi, are part of the project and are dedicated to Oksana Shachko. They will be located in four cities related to different stages of her life: Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Paris, and La Chaux-de-Fonds. This map illustrates Oksana Shachko's connection to these cities.

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Films

Texts

Change is on the horizon, and everyone needs to adapt to this fast-paced world. With over 15 years in consultancy, I have helped businesses of all kinds thrive amid change, through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

Change is on the horizon, and everyone needs to adapt to this fast-paced world. With over 15 years in consultancy, I have helped businesses of all kinds thrive amid change, through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

Change is on the horizon, and everyone needs to adapt to this fast-paced world. With over 15 years in consultancy, I have helped businesses of all kinds thrive amid change, through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

Change is on the horizon, and everyone needs to adapt to this fast-paced world. With over 15 years in consultancy, I have helped businesses of all kinds thrive amid change, through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

Change is on the horizon, and everyone needs to adapt to this fast-paced world. With over 15 years in consultancy, I have helped businesses of all kinds thrive amid change, through strategic innovation and bold vision. Work with me and get future-ready!

References

  1. "Notes on the Death of Oxana Shachko". The Paris Review. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018. A deeply religious child, she came to identify as an atheist, a materialist, a communist, and, at last, a feminist.
  2. Ivan Nechepurenko (26 July 2018). "Ukrainian activist Oksana Shachko co-founded women's rights group Femen". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2018. Ms. Shachko and several other activists founded Femen in 2008. After a few conventional protests, they decided to demonstrate topless, often with political slogans written on their bodies.
  3. "A MEETING WITH OKSANA SHACHKO – CRASH Magazine". CRASH Magazine. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. "Oksana Chatchko : mort d'une Femen désabusée". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  5. "ICONOCLASTE // Oksana Shachko". Galerie Mansart (in French). Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. "Oksana Chatchko, première des Femen... et peintre d'icônes orthodoxes". La Croix (in French). 25 July 2018. ISSN 0242-6056. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  7. 'Oksana Shachko Invented a Grammar of Activism': How the Co-Founder of FEMEN Used Art as a Powerful Feminist Statement". artnet News. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  8. "Pour Oxana Shachko, les Femen sont \"sexy ET en colère!\"". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  9. "Oksana SHACHKO". www.leshommessansepaules.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  10. "The femen phenomenon". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012.
  11. "New Eastern Europe – Ukraine is not a Brothel". Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  12. Feminine Femen targets 'sexpats', Kyiv Post (22 May 2009)
  13. How they protest prostitution in Ukraine, France 24 (28 August 2009)
  14. (in French) Femen Les féministes venues du froid Archived 10 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Paris Match (18 February 2012)
  15. FEMEN activist Supports the Egyptian Revolution Archived 1 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "Femen показали синяки: \"Мы столкнулись с «ангелами смерти»\"". Segodnya (in Russian). 23 December 2011.
  17. "Trio 'abducted and abused' for Belarus topless protest". BBC News. 20 December 2011.
  18. "FEMEN Book (2013)". FEMEN.info. 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  19. Vagianos, Alanna (25 July 2018). "Co-Founder Of Feminist Group Femen Found Dead In Paris". HuffPost. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  20. "Co-founder of feminist topless protest group found dead in her Paris apartment". Independent.co.uk. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  1. Nechepurenko, Ivan (27 July 2018). "Oksana Shachko, a Founder of Feminist Protest Movement, Dies at 31". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  2. "Femen co-founder Oksana Shachko found dead in Paris flat". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. Paris killed her. Life and death of Oksana Shachko (Russian) by RFE/RL
  4. Alexandra Marshall (1 February 2019). "Inside the Life of Oksana Shachko, Femen's Radical Feminist". Elle. Retrieved 30 August 2018. Despite her on-camera assurances, no one close to Shachko thought her life was copacetic. She suffered periods of dark depression and had trouble keeping up with the paperwork required to maintain her refugee status, which meant she was often running from small messes that became big. She had attempted suicide by hanging once already, a few years before, Trautmann says, in a little country house south of Paris that he used to own.
  5. "DISCOVER THE ART ISSUE 82 WITH GILBERT & GEORGE AND OKSANA SHACHKO". CRASH Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. "032c | Manual for Freedom, Research & Creativity". Archived from the original on 11 July 2018.
  7. "Oksana Shachko, une Femen en pleine crise de foi". Telerama.fr. 14 May 2016.
  8. VIDEO. OKSANA SHACHKO : L'EX-FEMEN ICONOCLASTE EXPOSE SA VIERGE MARIE EN BURQA
  9. Wysocki, Jérôme (13 January 2016). "Elle quitte les Femen pour peindre des icônes religieuses". Lepoint.fr.
  10. "Je suis Femen (2014)". Caravelproduction.ch.
  11. "NAKED WAR – LaClairière Production". Laclairiereproduction.com.
  12. Paris, Joseph. "naked war – un film de Joseph Paris". Joseph Paris. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  13. "Droit de suite – Femen : Naked War". LCP Assemblée nationale. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  14. "Nos seins, nos armes (2012) – Documentaire – L'essentiel – Télérama.fr". Television.telerama.fr. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  15. Oxana "Lumière Noire", Alain Margot, YouTube, 24 juillet 2019

Social Justice Today

The struggle Oksana gave her life to continues. This section documents ongoing feminist and social justice movements inspired by her legacy.

This section is under construction. Content will be added via Sanity CMS.

The Virtual Museum and Public Sculptures initiative was founded by Australian psychologist and social justice advocate Dr. Bob Jacobs. After first reading about Oksana Shachko in 2018, Dr. Bob learned more about her courage and began conducting his own research, discovering that their worldviews were closely aligned.

Although he never knew Oksana personally, this did not prevent him from traveling from Queensland to France, Switzerland, and Ukraine in order to follow in her footsteps. You can watch the documentary film Oksana & Bob about Dr. Bob's journey here.

The project is fully funded through Dr. Bob's personal generosity. Everyone is welcome to contribute financially to the development of future public sculptures honoring Oksana Shachko's contributions to feminist and anti-authoritarian movements via GoFundMe.

About

TEAM

Idea and Initiative: Dr. Bob Jacobs

Producer: Dan Prykhodko

Virtual Museum Curator, Texts Copyright: Kateryna Tykhonenko

Design: Kateryna Tykhonenko, Shaza Musa

Website: Taras Prohnimak

Translator into French: XXX XXX

Sculpturer: Kostiantyn Strytutskyi

All rights to Oksana Shachko's original works are reserved. If you wish to use any images presented on this website for commercial or non-commercial purposes, please contact us (Dr. Bob Jacobs) via email at: info@theparentingcentre.com.au

Copies of images belong to their authors.

"Naked body and politics — it is an explosive combination"

Oksana Shachko (1987 – 2018), artist, activist, revolutionary
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