No Title, no Plans

A year can last an eternity. 365 days of war in Ukraine have changed the lives of millions of people. With his mural designed for the occasion of February 24 in collaboration with Office Ukraine Innsbruck, Ukrainian artist Miki-Mike 665 brings the reality of their lives into the center of Innsbruck. On the wall of the University Bridge South underpass, he creates an intense storytelling that unfolds on a black background – an allusion to the uncertainty and impossibility of picturing the future. The figurative subjects confront us with the reality people in Ukraine are facing since the beginning of the full-scale war – a man pushing a bike laden with a Starlink satellite internet box, a woman from rural Ukraine ready to defend herself, a child from the war-ravaged city of Isjum happy to receive a box sweets. But Miki-Mike 665 also cites the local historical and contemporary context: Among the Ukrainians, the viewer detects Father and Son, a memorial dedicated to the Tirolean freedom fights in 1809, and a tourist looking through a telescope. What does the person see? Due to the war in Ukraine, the geographical distance to Austria seems to have diminished. No Title, no Plans alludes to the impossibility of putting the unspeakable events into words and making plans for the future after a year of war – if only for the next day.

Miki-Mike 665 (b. 1986) was born in Norilsk, Russia, and grew up in Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine, where he co-founded the informal artistic group 665 (sixsixfive), which is still active today. Miki-Mike 665 graduated in history and worked as a school teacher for several years. He started his artistic career with video art and short films; later he began to do illustrations and to create comics, art books and zines. Since the age of 25, Miki-Mike 665 has also been doing street art with a focus on the “visual anthropology of street folklore”. He created graffiti in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Italy, Austria, Serbia, and Montenegro. He is the author of the comics and zines Industrial Children 1-2, Monologue with the State, Paper Tinder, Surzhik Alphabet, Antistress Coloring Book. Ukrainian, and If You Feel Ashamed You Are a Good Person.
@miki.mike.665