"Koniachka" Monument

Walking along Kyiv's central streets, you can see many unusual monuments. One of them is “Koniachka,” a monument depicted as a hedgehog from the Soviet cartoon “Hedgehog in the Fog,” which, according to film critics from various countries, is considered one of the best animated films in the world. It appeared at the intersection of Reiterska and Zolotovoritska streets in 2009. The initiative to erect it came from the organization “Kyiv Landscape Initiative.” The idea was by K. Skretsutskyi. The wooden monument was created by V. Kolynko and H. Kurovskyi, well-known sculptor-carvers who over the past few years have been turning terrible tree stumps into true works of art.

The hedgehog figure recalls an episode from the cartoon in which he saw a cloud in the sky shaped like a horse. Hence the name “Koniachka.” The technique used to make the monument has its own features. For example, the hedgehog’s spines are made of screws attached to the damaged pine trunk with metal mesh.