Ptashka

My character Ptashka, (literal translation Birdie). I have drawn it hundreds of times since 2018 all over Ukraine and in other countries as street art. I participate with her in festivals, in addition, there are physical media, such as clothes, shoppers, carpets and stickers with her in different variations. This is my Magpie (a reference to my surname Sorokina, Soroka — magpie) and this is not just an illustration — this is a very personal character. This is an alter ego, she always reflects my state, sometimes she is more determined, sometimes more tired, sometimes more angry. And it always matches my mood while drawing.

How did Ptashka appear?

One day I decided that I wanted to draw on the streets not only a font, but also create my own character. I did not have a goal to give her just such a facial expression, it turned out spontaneously and after a while I realized that she is my way of expressing “forbidden” emotions. Every time I draw it, it reflects my current state. She can be very angry, tired, resolute, expressing disdain or confused .. but every time this is exactly what I feel, even if in part.

In addition, my Bird got into a big PR scandal when it was stolen from me with copyright infringement in Kyiv — thanks to the hype and the support of thousands of people, we were able to defend it. And she has become a kind of symbol of justice in Ukraine.  And I got a strong feeling that she is both a part of me and a separate person at the same time — and it is not clear which of us is the author of the stories that happen to us.

I love her very much because often people first learn about her, and only then get to know me. And it seems to me as if she herself chooses cool people and brings them to me, it's funny. When I fled the war to Berlin, I miraculously took a shopper with Ptashka with me, and she even helped me in Berlin — she brought Ukrainians to me, who recognized her just on the street and came up to get acquainted. And despite her formidable appearance, it is thanks to her that I constantly meet the most valuable thing that can be in my life — friends.

Here are some of the projects Ptashka has been involved in:

And many other projects

History of copyright infringement. Or how my Ptashka was stolen, 2021

In the spring of 2021, a restaurant Chik-Chirik in Kyiv, without my knowledge or permission, took my bird from street art work located a couple of blocks from their establishment and used it on their facade, as a logo, in decor, on all menus, on staff uniforms and on all their sites.

My Ptashka:

Their signage, interior, menu and staff uniforms:

They ignored all my attempts to communicate. Thousands of people supported me, they called Chick Chirik, wrote comments and reviews. Chik chirik deleted all those thousands of comments, deleted all the reviews on Facebook and Google and even ignored a request on this topic from the popular site The Village. They also closed comments and the ability to mention themselves in social networks. At the same time, they continued to pay for advertising posts and PR, hold mass parties and remove all mention of the fact of theft.

In the beginning, lawyers offered me their services on pro-bono terms. In the field of street art for Ukrainians this was a precedent. Therefore, a whole team of lawyers, not familiar, but united for this case, was formed.

Chik-chirik has been ignoring us for 2 months, and then went on the offensive. First, they wrote a post on their Instagram about how “the artist is trying to gather an army to shut them down and take their bird away from them” with closed comments on her page.

Then they began to register a trademark with the image of my bird.

We filed a response claim that this trademark violates my rights and at the same time prepared a lawsuit.

Our lawsuit was ready, but the case did not have time to reach the court, because the war began.

During this conflict, many artists, photographers and musicians told me about their history of copyright infringement. It turned out that this is a very painful topic for Ukraine. I began to understand this issue, such a deplorable situation occurred because the creators did not know about their rights, and in society globally there is no understanding of the value of intellectual labor.

In the fall of 2021, several lectures “On Bird’s Rights” (fixed expression denoting “live a precarious existence”) were published on the problem of copyright in different cities of Ukraine.

Sign “I demand to close Chick-chirik” on the march in Kyiv and media about this situation.