Oleksándr Róitburd is a well-known artist and curator. Born in 1961 in Odésa, he revealed himself in the history of modern Ukrainian art in the mid-1980s. In the 1990s, he was one of the founders of Ukrainian postmodernism, and the leader of the “New Art” association (Odésa). Having a prominent patriotic attitude, he always led an active social life. In 2021, he became a deputy of the Odésa Regional Council. At the end of his life (2017-2021) he was elected and worked as the director of the Odésa Fine Art Museum. In a short time, he managed to turn the museum into a contemporary art institution.

The work “Hymn to Demons and Heroes” was created in 1989. This is a large canvas (length – 3 m, height – 2 m), which is almost completely occupied by a winged green-yellow snake curled into a ring. Its wing with spread feathers is stretched upwards to the left corner, a little lower, almost in the centre, there is a vertical neck of the snake with an almost black head. The mouth is open, and a large white fang and a large white eye are visible.

The background of the image is unevenly divided into 2 sections diagonally: the beige one is larger, and the black one is smaller. The wing and neck of the snake with the head are on the light side, the direction of the head is parallel to the diagonal and directed to the upper left corner.

Inside the circle there is a body which is formatting faces that are singing or shouting. There are a lot of them, they are pressed to each other and resemble depersonalised masks. It is known that in mythology a snake with wings is a mighty symbol of power. In the work of Oleksándr Róitburd, the snake is also a personification of the power that controls the people who do not understand the true role of the “demon”. All are in subjection to the great serpent and even glorify it.

The author’s choice of the title for the work is of interest. Probably, Róitburd considered that even a song or a cry of people in such a hopeless situation is a heroic act.