ART PROJECT
Break the Glass if Necessary
An art project was opened in Drohobych’s Market Square, entitled “Break the Glass if Necessary”. The project is dedicated to the Saltworks and the Salt of Drohobych thanks to which Drohobych was founded and grew.
Strategic Reserves of Salt covered by Glass
An art project dedicated to salt was opened in Drohobych. The art object is situated on the level of the cobblestone pavement, under a strong layer of glass underneath which symbolic cones of salt are placed—the cones we can see on the city’s coat of arms—which are illuminated in nighttime. Location: next to the entrance to the Centre for Provision of Administrative Services in the city of Drohobych. Project name: “Break Glass if Necessary”. The project serves as a reminder of the fact that reserves of salt may one day be exhausted. In that event, here, under this thick glass, people will be able to find some strategic reserves.
Project author
The author of the project is Yuriy Cherniavskiy, an artist from Lviv who took part in the artists’ residence last autumn in Drohobych and then devised this idea and won the competition. The residence was being organised within the project entitled Magic Salt Cities, financially supported by „MEET UP! German-Ukrainian Youth Exchange”. Curator: Oleksandr Maksymov.
The project itself was prepared and implemented by Anna Kuzyshyn. Youth Space Drohobych was the Drohobych-based partner of the project.
Comment by Yuriy Cherniavskiy, the artist and the creator of the installation:
The idea of the installation has emerged within the framework of the Magic Salt Cities, an artists’ residence. The idea is to create a symbolic reserve of salt and embed it into the city’s central square. A fragment of the square has been turned into an underground museum showcase. Such showcases are often placed where archaeological excavations used to take place and serve as a fragmentary illustrations of historical layers in that locality. In the showcase, salt cones are placed that have the shape of the presently existing souvenir-style salt cones sold in gift shops. We can see cones of the same shape on the city’s coat of arms. These cones look like the cones which the children make as they play in sandboxes, or like canned vegetables prepared ahead of winter, usually in large quantities. The idea is to hermetically seal the symbol of the City of Drohobych, in order to both preserve it for the generations to come and also to draw attention to the fragility of this symbol and the possibility of its ultimate evanescence. The City of Drohobych practically grew out of salt. There is a threat, though, that salt production will ultimately slow down and fade away. The name and the form of this installation shall serve as a warning that one day, the reserves will cease to replenish and the city residents will have to take the last pieces from salt from underneath it, too.
