One of the means of distracting from the horrors of war, from constant thoughts about the loss of loved ones, and most importantly, from an irresistible feeling of hunger for children of besieged Leningrad, was drawing classes. The drawings of the children of the besieged Leningrad are important as a memory of those trials that fell on the fragile children's shoulders during the war.
“Working for three years under the conditions of the siege of Leningrad as an inspector of RONO (district department of public education. - RT ), being the head of the methodical cabinet before the war, from the very first day of the war I set out to collect and view children's drawings, as it seemed to me that the historical days being experienced Leningrad is too specific and that it is impossible to pass by them. From the very first days of the war, I wanted to collect historical material of this era: teachers' reports, children's verbal creativity and, finally, reflection of children's impressions of the war in drawings, ”wrote Elizaveta Leonidovna Schukina, who collected a collection of drawings by children of besieged Leningrad in the 1960s years transferred them to the State Museum of the History of Leningrad.
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The international project team # Pages Victory - artists Denis Sa1ntdenis Semenov from Russia, Stuart Sutu Campbell from Australia, Vladimir VRHUMAN Ilic from Germany and Rosie Summers from Great Britain - animated 20 drawings using modern technologies.
“This may have been one of the most difficult VR projects I participated in,” says Ilych about his animations of drawings by children of besieged Leningrad. The artist worked with brands such as Google, Samsung, Sony Pictures, Microsoft.
“You put yourself in the place of a child who lives during the war. He draws the reality surrounding him precisely with the child’s gaze - free and uncomplicated, ”says Ilic.
“I was interested in this project because I am against the war. I believe that war is a terrible tragedy. I believe that such projects are very important because they remind us of all the horrors of war, ”Campbell says of his animations. - Usually in military chronicles we rarely manage to see a childish look. But in this project we see drawings created by children during the war. Creating drawings, children relied on their feelings. They are quite simple in terms of drawing technique, but despite this they were able to display the chaos and destruction of the war. "
Campbell has worked with studios and brands such as Disney, Marvel, Google, and on VR projects for films such as Doctor Strange and First Player Get Ready.
“Of all my projects, this one made a very strong impression on me, made me think. Before starting to draw, I studied all the work of children and kind of plunged into their thoughts. They incredibly beautifully and touchingly portrayed this tragic period of their lives, ”says British artist Summers. She works for XR Games, which recently released Angry Birds in Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure on Sony PlayStation 4.
“These drawings are not just drawings, but parts of their life stored on paper, their memories, stories, their experience. The drawings show how powerful art is: it seems to reveal to us the consciousness of children and their understanding of war, says Summers. “The implementation of a two-dimensional drawing in virtual space offers us to plunge into the creative consciousness of children.”
Watch all episodes of the series “War: Children's drawings in VR-animation” on Facebook #P Victory Pages.
War: Children's drawings (REEL in Russian) from # 1917LIVE on Vimeo.
Project RT #Pobedy Victory talks about the Great Patriotic War through new media and digital art. Join us on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, VKontakte and follow the hourly chronicle of the last days of the war on Twitter.