According to the rector of the National Technical University “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” Anatoliy Melnychenko, the exhibition “From the Flame We Were Born”, which opened on January 23 this year at the university's State Polytechnic Museum named after Borys Paton, is another reason to remember those students and teachers of KPI who are no longer with us because of the insidious war. “This exhibition is an inspiration for young people, students, teachers, a lesson in courage for many Kyiv residents and guests of our city,” he emphasized at the opening ceremony.
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Teachers of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute called this exhibition dedicated to Ukrainian military, volunteers and medics an unforgettable event. After the opening, the Kyiv Polytechnic correspondent talked to several students who are studying at this institute. They shared their impressions of what they had seen and enthusiastically told us that they were proud of their classmate who, at the request of one of the presenters, Iryna Soloshenko, demonstrated the process of applying a tourniquet to his own arm right during the opening of the exhibition. “He did it masterfully,” was the unanimous verdict of the young people. This assessment was confirmed by the chief anesthesiologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Oleksandr Bugay, who also gave a first aid training to the visitors of the exhibition.
Volunteer medic Iryna Soloshenko organized a short tour of the exhibition and told about almost all of its heroes and individual exhibits. It was a firsthand account, so to speak, because she is known for her participation in the creation of medical railway cars and the project she led to provide hemodialysis machines to the intensive care units of the Main Medical Hospital of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the implementation of a project to renovate medical equipment at the Armed Forces Blood Center. In addition, Iryna Soloshenko heads the medical department of the Kolo Charitable Foundation and is a mobile evacuation project manager.
Addressing the audience, Iryna Soloshenko also presented an art book - a color photo album with the same title as the exhibition - “Born from the Flame.” Both the book and the exhibition featured the helmet of the legendary pilot, Lieutenant Colonel of the Air Force of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine Vadym Voroshylov, a manuscript by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, a painting by volunteer Tata Kepler, personal belongings of Yulia “Tyra” Payevska, a phonendoscope by Oleksandr Bugay, a handmade embroidered shirt by Iryna Soloshenko, shell fragments, awards, and photographs of 23 Ukrainian heroes created by photographer Mina Sorvino. By the way, Mina is a co-author of the exhibition and the art book.
A correspondent of Kyiv Polytechnic managed to get an answer to the question of how the name of the exhibition and the photo book came from one of the co-authors. As it turned out, this is a creative initiative of Anna Yegorova, the artistic director of the project “From the Flame We Were Born”. “Remember the lyrics of the anthem song 'We were born in the great hour'. It was this song that I remembered when I was working on the future art book,” says Anna Yegorova. ”I suggested this title to the members of the organizing committee of the cultural and educational project, which has been in existence for two years. They approved it. That's how the name of the exhibition and photo album “Born from the Flame” came about.
By the way, this exhibition dedicated to the Ukrainian military, medics, and volunteers has already visited seven cities in Ukraine. It will be on display at the Borys Paton State Polytechnic Museum until the end of March 2025.
So for the younger generation, for each of the visitors, this exhibition is a real lesson in patriotism, in the values of humanity and selflessness. It is also a chance to join an important cause - raising funds to upgrade the equipment of the Blood Center at the Main Medical Hospital of the Armed Forces of Ukraine!