---
title: "Digital Chronicle of Protest: How a Ukrainian Designer Collected Thousands of Posters into the Online 'Kartony' Archive"
description: "Ukrainian designer Artem Sakh created the 'Kartony' online gallery — an archive of protest posters. 📢 In the first 24 hours, the project gathered nearly 2,000 photos from 54 cities, including solidarity actions abroad. 🇺🇦🌍"
date: 2026-07-20T09:14:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/digital-chronicle-of-protest-how-a-ukrainian-designer-collected-thousands-of-posters-into-the-online-kartony-archive
tags: [ukraine, protest, artem-sakh, kartonky, civil-society]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Digital Chronicle of Protest: How a Ukrainian Designer Collected Thousands of Posters into the Online 'Kartony' Archive

![Handwritten protest sign reading 'On the cemetery of shot-down illusions there's no more room for graves' — part of the 'Kartontka' archive created by a Ukrainian designer](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/20/online-galereya-kartonki-arhiv-protestnyh-plakatov/online-galereya-kartonki-arhiv-protestnyh-plakatov-1.webp)

Ukrainian designer Artem Sakh launched a project that rapidly became a digital archive of public sentiment. Under the name 'Kartony' (Cardboard), an online gallery opened, aimed at preserving the visual history of protest actions. The platform allows any user to upload a photo of a homemade poster created during rallies or to explore a collection of works by other citizens.

### Massive Resonance in the First 24 Hours

The launch of the project caused unexpected excitement. Within the first 24 hours of the gallery's operation, it accumulated about 1,000 photos. At the time of publication, the platform's database had grown to 1,897 images. Announcements of the project on social media gathered more than 8,000 'likes', indicating a high level of audience interest in the topic of civic self-expression.

### Geography of Public Dissatisfaction

The materials uploaded to the platform cover 54 cities. The majority of posters came from regional centers in Ukraine, reflecting local moods in the regions. However, the project went beyond the country's borders: the gallery features photos of solidarity actions from Düsseldorf, Warsaw, Berlin, Munich, Paris, and Toronto.

The content of most posters is dedicated to public dissatisfaction with recent personnel decisions within the state's power structures. This makes the archive not just an art exhibition, but a documentary witness to the current political agenda.

### Technical Adaptation and Moderation

In response to the influx of users, the developer quickly updated the platform's interface, upgrading the system overnight. To ensure the safety of participants, a strict moderation and publishing rules system was implemented on the site.

Artem Sakh urges users to maintain confidentiality and to blur people's faces in photos before uploading. Responsibility for the content of the materials lies entirely with the authors themselves. The site also has a complaint system: in response to visitor appeals, moderation has already removed 8 photos that violated community rules.

To facilitate navigation, the developer released a detailed guide on using the gallery in the form of a video tutorial on Instagram, explaining how to properly add one's contribution to this digital archive.