Oksana Shachko, painter and co-founder of the Femen movement, disappears at just 31 years old

Painter and activist Oksana Shachko, best known to most for being one of the founders of the feminist movement Femen, famous for its forays, carried out by bare-breasted women (a practice that has since spread throughout the world), against discrimination against women, has passed away in Paris at the age of only 31. Born on January 31, 1987, in Chmel’nyc’kykj, Ukraine, Oksana Shachko had founded Femen in 2008 along with Hanna Hucol and Oleksandra Shevchenko. In 2013, as a result of the constant threats she was receiving in her own country, she had to move to France, where she continued her activities with Femen for some time, only to detach from it in 2014 and devote herself entirely to painting. She had participated in some exhibitions in Paris, attended the atelier of artist Olivier Blanckart, her teacher, and, since 2017, studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris.

Blanckart himself remembered her in a Twitter post, as a “friend, artist, feminist activist” and describing her loss as an “unspeakable tragedy.” Oleksandra Shevchenko commented instead, “may you know her, respect her, never forget her. Oksana Shachko, one of the most important women of our time. She is one of the greatest warriors who fought against the injustice of society, and she fought for herself and for all women [...]. Oksana has left us but she is here and everywhere. She is in each of us, she is in the Femen group she co-founded, she is in her paintings through which she manifested her talent. She is in the history of feminism.”

Shachko was found lifeless on July 23 in her Paris apartment, where she allegedly committed suicide. Next to her she allegedly left a note that read, in English, “You are all fakes.” At the moment, the exact date of her disappearance is not yet known, which will be determined by examinations.

In the photo: Oksana Shachko

Oksana Shachko, painter and co-founder of the Femen movement, disappears at just 31 years old

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