There is art even in Antarctica!

Up until recently, the Ukrainian Vernadsky Research Base in Antarctica has mainly been inhabited by penguins. However now, the base is an art installation. Previously, the simple structure in the very sparsely uninhabited continent has been a place where researchers and scientists spent time studying the polar environment.

These days, the original structure is mainly frequented by arctic wildlife; however recently, the Kyiv-based architecture studio of Balbek Bureau was asked to reimagine (courtesy of an article by Harriet Lloyd-Smith for Wallpaper) “a decommissioned fuel tank at the Vernadsky Research Base.”

The idea for the installation was originally suggested in November 2021 when the National Arctic Research Center, along with the retail chain Silpo, commissioned an installation from Balbek Bureau, a Kyiv-based architecture firm. The hope was to provide an attraction for tourists and a “home away from home” for polar researchers that live full-time, albeit temporarily, at the base.

It was vital to design a structure that would be simple to assemble, able to withstand the harsh elements, and coexist with the 3,500 penguins that inhabit the island. The plan was for the installation to become a permanent addition to the island’s landscape… assuming the penguins were undisturbed by it.

However as soon as Russia invaded Ukraine, the project took on a new meaning with an added urgency. The sketch proposed by Balbek Bureau was of a rural Ukrainian house constructed from a delicate metal frame rendered in thin, stainless steel tubes. The structure is built with windows, a chimney, and a slightly-pitched roof.

This home’s outline was placed around a substantial building of a former fuel tank that sits near the research station. The project is lit from below to glow during the nighttime… at night, the outline becomes a faint image, (courtesy of Fast Company) “like a distant memorial only partly recalled.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine complicated the project’s completion; however Balbek Bureau CEO and architect Slava Balbek and Wonder Workshop head Dmytro Zinoviev were committed to finishing the installation. As such, the pair personally traveled to Antartica to complete the project.

Olesya Sachenko, Baalbek Bureau’s co-founder said (courtesy of Fast Company) “Now more than ever, our researchers want to feel connected to their roots. We hope that “Home. Memories“ becomes a reminder of home, warmth, comfort, and grandmotherly coziness for them.”

Adorning the exterior is a small display of nine resin-covered, Ukrainian items. Included in the assortment is folk art, a branch from a native spruce tree, a fragment of a shirt embroidered with “vyshyvanka” (a style of shirt native to Ukraine), a piece of Kosiv-painted ceramics (a type of traditional Ukrainian ceramics), and charcoal from the Russian-occupied region of Ukraine called Donetsk.

The installation was initially in honor of the 160th anniversary of Volodymyr Vernadsky’s birth. Vernadsky was a prominent Ukrainian mineralogist and geochemist, he is considered one of the founders of geochemistry , radiogeology, and biogeochemistry.

Now that Ukraine is at war with their aggressor, Russia, the art installation has added meaning. Balbek revealed this meaningful statement about why the installation is important, “all the way in Antartica, for researchers and tourists alike, our house will continue to stand strong, a true memento of Ukraine.” Yes, 100% agreed!