Creativity rarely costs you your freedom.

But Aleksandra ‘Sasha’ Skochilenko, an artist, musician and activist has just been sentenced to 7 years for an act of creativity that was extraordinarily brave.

Since the invasion of Ukraine Putin has made it illegal to say anything negative about the war. The blanket of government propaganda is suffocating. Yet artists and activists like Aleksandra have found a subversive way to communicate anti-war messages.

They’ve created false price tags that tell the truth about Russian aggression and the Ukrainian lives lost. The ‘price’ is no longer the actual price of the object but corresponds to a fact.

“The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol. Around 400 people were hiding inside,” reads one. “Putin has been lying to us from television screens for 20 years: the result of these lies is our readiness to justify the war and the senseless deaths,” reads another.

Aleksandra was arrested after another shopper reported her and is now in a penal colony.

As she was sentenced last week she made the sign of a heart and said to the court, “How fragile must the prosecutor’s belief in our state and society be, if he thinks that our statehood and public safety can be brought down by five small pieces of paper? Despite being behind bars, I am freer than you.”

#ukraine #creativity #inspiration #copywritersunite

Amnesty International have launched this petition demanding Aleksandra’s release.

I first heard about Sasha’s story from Dr Victoria Powell’s excellent blog The Gallery Companion.