Ukrainian Door art installation to be located at Chapel in The Garden Bridport, Dorset, May 2025

Chapel in the Garden, Bridport, has been chosen by Wareham sculptor Robert Marshall as the next location for his Ukrainian Door Sculpture. The door, bombed and scorched, was transported by courier from the town of Toretsk. Robert said “I wanted to tell the plight of all the people that are suffering in Ukraine.”
Local Bridport resident Olga Patiuta, who fled the conflict from Ukraine with her two children in 2022 said that “Doors hold profound symbolic and spiritual meaning these doors are not just remnants of a building that survived a bombing – they are sacred. They are more than architectural features; they are protectors, thresholds, and portals between the known and the unknown, the safe and the dangerous.”
Chair of Trustees for Chapel in The Garden David Gregory said “The Chapel in the Garden is honoured to host The Ukrainian Door, just as the town of Bridport has welcomed Ukrainians to make their home here with us”.
The Ukrainian Door also aligns with Bridport Town Council’s slogan as ‘Dorset’s Most Eventful Town’ with its own sculpture trail which has also been complimented with a ‘Stampede of Elephants’. These have been situated around Bridport and the nearby coastal resort of West Bay in aid of the Dorset based charity Weldmar Hospice Care.
The Ukrainian Door can be seen at the Chapel in the Garden from the beginning to the end of May 2025.

Follow up News Release
On Sunday 04 May a dedication service will be held where Robert Marshall will give a talk about it’s origins and the meaning behind The Door. The service will be conducted by The Rev. Elizabeth Harley which will include the dedication of the Ukrainian Door with members of the Ukrainian Community and other local residents.
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Editors Notes
Olya and Robert available for interviews
Website for Chapel in the Garden - https://thechapelinthegarden.com/
Website of Weldmar Trust https://www.weldmarhospicecare.org/stampede/
Link to BBC Sculpture Article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q1w2ed4lqo

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Further background information:

Robert Marshall and images of His Ukrainian Door

An artist who has created a sculpture using the door of a bombed home in Ukraine is appealing for places display it.
Robert Marshall from Wareham, Dorset, salvaged the door, which is covered in scorch marks from the heat of a blast and has a hole blown through it, from Toretsk.
The conceptual and environmental sculptor said he chose the door as it represents the "safety and security" people have at home, and he wanted to draw attention to the fact that families had lost this during Russia's full-scale invasion.
Mr Marshall is looking for venues or outside spaces around the UK to display the sculpture, which has been mounted on a pile of rubble.

He said: "This door just said everything... to do anything to it would detract from its message."
When it goes on show to the public, Mr Marshall said he planned to add stories of Ukrainian fami-lies to the artwork.
"I wish it to be a monument to all the innocent casualties of war. I hope it to be a voice for all the refugees," he said.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died since Russia launched its full-scale invasion three years ago, while large swathes of Ukraine have been destroyed.

He said: "I had the idea to try and get a door three years ago to tell the plight of all the people that are suffering".
Unable to travel to the war zone himself, Mr Marshall got in touch with soldiers in Toretsk, via a Ukrainian refugee in Swanage.
He said the door was pulled from the rubble of the city home where 30,000 people used to live during a lull in the fighting "now there is no one left it is a complete bomb site."
After getting a courier to ship the door, he said when it arrived at his home he decided to leave it just as it is.

Extract from BBC Dorset News: February, 26 2025


Olga Patiuta — Bridport Resident

On behalf of the Bridport Ukrainian community we wouldn’t be offended to locate The Door in Bridport as it is a strong message to the world and not only about Ukrainians, as The Door is Universal.
For the Ukrainian community, these doors are not just remnants of a building that survived a bombing – they are sacred. In our culture, doors hold profound symbolic and spiritual meaning. They are more than architectural features; they are protectors, thresh-olds, and portals between the known and the unknown, the safe and the dangerous, the sacred and the worldly. From ancient times, Ukrainian households treated doors as the strongest guardian of the home. They were crafted to endure hardship – not just physical but spiritual – warding off evil spirits and keeping misfortune at bay. The fact that these doors withstood a bombing is more than a testament to craftsmanship. It’s a testament to resilience, to the soul we embed into our homes, and to the enduring strength of the Ukrainian spirit.
Doors play a central role in every major life event. They are opened to welcome new life, to bid farewell to the departed, to bless unions, and to mark moments of profound change. To cross a threshold in Ukraine is always a moment of symbolism and intention. Even our language reflects this deeply embedded reverence: "Відчинити двері" (to open the door) means to seek harmony. "Закрити двері" (to close the door) – to end a con-nection. "Тримати за дверима" – to reject. "Шукати двері" – to feel lost. And so on – our culture lives through these metaphors.

These very doors come from Donbas – a re-gion many may misperceive due to recent propaganda and conflict, but in truth, Don-bas is deeply and historically Ukrainian.
Until the 15th century, it was known as the Wild Fields – a land of freedom. In the 15th–18th centuries, it was settled by Cossacks, followed by imperial colonisation and free Ukrainian peasants seeking refuge and land. By the 19th century, it became a site of industrial investment from Britain, France, and Belgium.
The city of Donetsk (then Yuzivka) was a true European hub, home to schools, factories, cultural life.

But with Soviet power came darkness. Donbas suffered immensely during the Holodomor – the manmade famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Entire villages perished and were later resettled by people from Russia. In 1933 alone, more than 140 trains arrived bringing settlers to the region. This mass resettlement was not organic – it was orchestrated, and it changed the linguistic and demographic map of Eastern Ukraine. Still, Donbas remains Ukrainian in spirit, blood, and memory – it has simply been silenced too long.
These doors, brought from that land, now carry all of that history: the hope, the destruction, the resilience. And their presence in Bridport could become a powerful, travelling monument – a living story. For Ukrainians, they are a symbol of a lost home, of survival, of ancestral protection. But for others – for every person who has ever left home, sought safety, experienced grief, or held on to hope – they will resonate too.
It will remind us of how fragile our world can be, and how sacred our homes truly are. It will invite every viewer to remember their own pivotal moments – of arrival, of departure, of fear, of joy. Because we all stand before doors, make choices, and hope that what lies behind or beyond will be kind.