Andrii Nesmachnyi, a veteran with ten years of experience, active military officer and founder of the Batart craft workshop, talks about the veteran’s path in the military and in civilian life; the need to create with his own hands and the opening of the workshop; the war and the reopening of the workshop in Irpin.
This is where glass is melted and bullet glasses are blown. Here, belts are sewn and knives are sharpened. Here they weave symbolic bracelets from paracord.
It is here that eight veterans and active military personnel take off their armor, LBVs, and uniforms, put away their automatic rifles, and put on their work aprons.
In their workshop, they are recuperating from the frontline. For them, it is not just a job or a hobby – it is rehabilitation and the magical ability of craft to heal.
For each other, they are not just colleagues. These men have created their own veteran community where understanding and support flourish. Together they rejoice in their own victories, together they experience the losses of their loved ones.
The founder of the veterans’ charity workshop, Andrii Nesmachnyi, is a veteran with 10 years of experience, a serving military officer and one of the winners of our contest program #VARTO: Skillful Hands.
Read about the veteran’s path in the military and in civilian life, the need to create with their own hands and the opening of the workshop, about the war and the reopening of the workshop in Irpin in Andrii Nesmachnyi’s interview for the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.
