An event that might not have happened due to many coincidences!
In June 2025, the currents of the Mediterranean Sea brought an unusual surprise to the shores of Northern Cyprus—a glass bottle with a sealed message. And not with a simple letter, but with a miniature oil painting by the Minsk artist Victoria Valuk. The painting, unexpectedly for themselves, was found intact by local Cypriots who were walking along the shore that day and discovered the rare find. Having freed the contents and learned about this international art project, they wrote to the artist with gratitude and provided photographic evidence. Thus, the 35-day voyage in the open sea of the collectible painting from the large project—artifact No. 70 "Autumn Evening" by artist Victoria Valuk—ended successfully, which could have broken and sunk, and there would have been no story at all. This is a huge stroke of luck and a lifelong surprise for the finders, and a rare occurrence in the history of sea voyages. If measured on a map, the painting in the bottle drifted approximately 400 km from the Antalya area, carried by the currents and winds in the open sea.
The unusual art project by Victoria Valuk called the art-tour show "Artifact" began during the coronavirus pandemic in February 2021. Now it is one of the most notable and inspiring projects, combining painting, adventure, play elements, and a multitude of coincidences. The essence of it is that the original paintings of this artist (not copies, not postcards, not prints) are securely placed in bottles and then lost around the world, either in the sea or on land. All this is reminiscent of the ancient tradition of messages in bottles. The rules of the project stipulate that whoever finds such a collectible painting in a bottle, all of which are signed and numbered on the back, can keep the found piece completely free of charge! Some artifacts from the project have already been discovered, for example, on the islands of Tenerife, Melbourne, Riga, Tashkent, and Kemer, while others have not yet been found. Currently, ten of her small oil paintings on canvas are still floating in bottles across the world's oceans, while the others await their new owners on the shores of various countries. Anyone, even you, can find such a miniature.
The art tour show "Artifact" is taking place with its worthy mission—to draw people's attention to art, to return the spirit of adventure and play, and to promote cultural development.
The artist of all the paintings and the creator of the project, Victoria Valuk, noted that when someone finds another instance, it is just as surprising and unique for her as it is for those who encounter such an unexpected event:
- Every time news comes in about a found painting, I feel as excited and amazed as the person who picked up the bottle from the sand. And these emotions are also conveyed to the viewers and readers, and more and more people are genuinely rooting for the project and for the lost artifacts to be found! While we are walking somewhere or having lunch, small canvases in bottles are being carried by currents somewhere. And how can we understand where they have already been carried? There is no electronic device to track it. Every time, it's a wonderful story for those lucky people who find it and for everyone who watches!
Let's turn to the readers, wouldn't you want to accidentally find such an artifact from an unusual and large-scale art project happening all over the world?
The oil painting "Autumn Evening" by artist Victoria Valuk is only the third sea marathon runner and champion in 4 years of this project, who swam a great distance in a bottle alone and was happily found.
Let's recall that one item, the original painting "A lot of work for bees" by Victoria Valuk, previously reached the islands near Florida in 2021 in 141 days, and another item reached Alexandria in 105 days; this was artifact number 64 titled "High in mountains" by Victoria Valuk. And now this artifact number 70 has reached Cyprus in 35 days!
It is also known that in May 2025, from the 11th to the 16th, another personal exhibition of Victoria Valuk's paintings titled "Artifacts. Kind Stories" took place in the capital of Uzbekistan. And in April, this same exhibition of future artifacts — 21 oil paintings — was showcased at the artist's solo exhibition in Turkey.
