A girl from Kharkiv painted the basement where she had been hiding from the war for three months with gouache and her mother’s eye-shadows
Diana Esipova dreams of the war stopping soon and wants to visit the city of Odesa to see the beautiful Black Sea. She was hiding from bombings in the basement of their 5-story building in Kharkiv with her mother and neighbors for over three months. The idea to paint the basement walls was spontaneous. The girl’s mother said Diana was drawing all her spare time. Once, they put a colorful carpet on the wall to cover the cracks and make it warmer inside. It looked so joyful compared with the moody gray walls that they decided to paint them. Diana depicted a soldier with flowers and a happy girl. She also drew a pigeon — a bird of peace.
The basement has been a shelter for the inhabitants, including children and the elderly. Diana’s mother says it is very scary all the time there because she understands the basement can’t protect them well if the rocket hits. But at least the explosions are much quieter there than in the apartment. And staying together with the neighbors already feels like being with the family.
