A Ukrainian sculptor has found himself at the center of a scandal over an anti-war project in Monaco
Ukrainian sculptor Mykyta Zigura sparked a wave of criticism after presenting his installation “Plasticine Man” at the Fragile Salon 2026 exhibition in Monaco. Presented as an anti-war project, it sparked a heated debate about the appropriateness of artistic messages during a full-scale war.
The sculptor presented a plasticine figure enlarged to the size of a real person. Fingerprints are visible on it.
“My brother and I used to mold figures like this when we were kids and stage battles—army against army. There were many battles in a single day; sometimes one side won, sometimes the other. There were many casualties; we’d attach a piece of red plasticine to the dead ones. But the next day, everyone came back to life, and the game would start all over again. I’ve grown up, and my attitude toward war has changed,” the artist wrote.
Zigura added: “Now politicians are playing the same game, only with real people, but unlike our childhood games, no one comes back to life… New soldiers are either forcibly rounded up on the streets or lured into the army through deception, propaganda, and money. And then they’re sent into the meat grinder of war and die by the hundreds of thousands in this horrific game.”
After the project was presented, a wave of criticism erupted on social media. Users claimed that the work insults Ukrainian soldiers who risk their lives every day and, in their opinion, spreads narratives in line with Russian propaganda. Some users noted that while the sculpture itself is expressive, the explanation accompanying it is controversial.
Source: Nikita Zigura
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