Mitryasova, O. CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY: Monograph. Mykolaiv: PMBSNU, 2026, 124 p.

CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY 4.2. ART MANIFESTO "TREE OF LIFE" The art of Mykolaiv develops according to its own, special logic — the logic of spiritual protection. When the material pillars of the city —water supply, power grids, residential buildings — were destroyed under shelling, the artists began to erect metaphysical supports. The mural "Tree of Life", presented in October 2022 in the Korabelny district, became another link in a unique "amulet cycle" designed to sacralize the space of the frontline city. Art manifesto in the Korabelnyi district While the city center was reflecting on the image of the "Big Fish", the remote Korabelnyi district, the area that suffered almost the most from shelling and logistical difficulties with water delivery, received its symbol. The authors of the canvas measuring three meters high and nine meters wide were the tandem known to Mykolaiv residents - Alyona Voloshyna and Dmytro Slepukha. The choice of location was strategic. The Korabelny district became a kind of "island" inside the city, where domestic difficulties, including the water crisis, were felt more acutely due to the remoteness from the main spill points. It was here, on the wall of the building of Bogoyavlensky Avenue, that the "Tree of Life" appeared — a work created in record time, but filled with deep semantic meaning (Fig. 4.2). Fig. 4.2. Mural "Tree of Life" in the Korabelny district of Mykolaiv (photo from open sources). The visual language of the mural is not accidental. Alyona Martynova and Dmytro Slepukha turned to Tavrian painting, a unique artistic tradition of the Mykolaiv region, which they studied under the guidance of Lyubov Paraniuk. In the context of water danger, this is critical: Taurida painting is historically associated with the sea, river and steppe springs. 101