“Cover with a mask, don’t retreat into yourself”: an art installation set up in Kyiv

An art installation reminding of the importance of mental health has been set up in Kyiv. The organizers erected the largest monument to the medical mask in Ukraine. It contains short theses related to the most common fears of people during a pandemic.

On December 28, on Kontraktova Square in Kyiv, an art installation with the largest medical mask in Ukraine "Cover with a mask, don't retreat into yourself" was presented. During the year of the pandemic, the face mask became not only an integral accessory but also a symbol of stress, anxiety, and fear of getting sick.

The project was initiated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as part of a special social campaign. In this way, the art installation initiators try to draw the attention of Ukrainians to their own physical and mental health.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a threat to physical health. Stress, limitations in actions, change of an established way of life have a destructive influence on mentality. Many Ukrainians, who, even under normal circumstances, are often unaccustomed to paying proper attention to their mental health, are left alone with problems in a pandemic: anxiety, fear of falling ill, worrying for loved ones, or an uncertain future. Isolated from others, people shut themselves in and silently suffer from it," IOM explains.

Health workers also talk about the influence of covid on the mental state of patients. Foreign studies of scientists and doctors also state that the coronavirus causes various mental disorders either during illness or later when a person is completely healthy. So, besides a visual reminder of needing to take care of your health in all aspects, such as the mask-installation, IOM opened a free psychological helpline two months ago.

Today, December 29, the same mask will be presented in Kharkiv, on Freedom Square.