Yurii Vovkohon is a cultural manager and coordinator of many art festivals in Ukraine. Since 2014, he has been a participant in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Yurii coordinated the art festival Fort.Missia, which took place in a unique, historic location near the Polish-Ukrainian border. He also managed the Opera-Myth «Ukraine – Terra Incognita», dedicated to the defenders of Ukraine and personally to the defender and opera singer Vasyl Slipak.

“We live and must create, remembering the responsibility for our own lives and the lives of others,” says Yurii.

Yurii is also the author of the video installation Wounds (2015). The art project was created after Yurii returned from “ATO” (Anti-Terrorist Operation) in the Eastern regions of Ukraine. First shown in the Detenpyla gallery, as part of the TETRAMATICA festival in Lviv, viewers saw bullet and shrapnel ‘wounds’ on trees from war-torn regions of Ukraine. The content was shot on a regular phone, near the village of Pisky, Donetsk region.

In creative circles, Yurii is known for his unique signature: “Responsible for the future of the Universe.” This is how the artist signs his letters. That’s why, from the very beginning of the war in 2014, Yurii stood up for the defence of freedom and democracy. In 2022, during the full-scale invasion, he also took up arms and joined the army.

Yurii Vovkohon was wounded during a combat mission near Lysychansk: 2 arteries were severed, and his forearm and thigh received multiple fractures. Since then, he has been undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.

For his contribution towards the victory, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Yurii Vovkohon with The Order for Courage.