After the Playa: Where Hero Armor Went Next

When Burning Man ended, we did not want the story to end with it. Hero Armor was made so that people could meet Zakhar Zakharov's character face to face, and a robot standing in a warehouse meets no one. So over the weeks that followed, we kept taking it to places where people could see it.

This is a short account of three of those places. Each one gave us something different.

Before we left the playa: the Temple

Hero Armor stood near the Temple, the place where this story began in 2025. There is one more detail from there that we want to put on record.

Through our website, people sent us the stories of fallen heroes. About 15 of them were printed, and we left them in the Temple. Tetiana Hurkivska helped prepare the texts for the memory page where those stories live. A robot can stand beside a Temple, but the stories are what the Temple holds.

That is why we think of Hero Armor as more than an object. It is a way to carry names and stories to people who might not have heard them.

Reno Tahoe International Art Show, 17–20 September

Our first stop after the playa was the Reno Tahoe International Art Show at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada. Hero Armor stood at the center of the exhibition hall.

The robot had been through a lot by then, and its electronics needed repairs. Mila Kirillova, who painted the robot and restored it after the playa, had already brought it back into shape. Once the electronics were working again, something happened that we had been waiting for.

For the first time, the robot spoke in Zakhar's voice.

Ivan Kalinichenko built the audio system that lets the robot notice people and speak. Until Reno, we had only tested it in pieces. Hearing it work in a full hall, with visitors walking up to the robot, was a different thing.

Zakhar created the original Sci-Fi Armor model in 2019. He volunteered to defend Ukraine and did not return. The character he made now stood in a hall in Nevada and greeted people in his voice. We have no better way to say what that meant to us, so we will leave it there.

Maker Faire Bay Area, 25–27 September

A week after Reno, Hero Armor was at Maker Faire Bay Area 2026, on Historic Mare Island in Vallejo, California.

This was a very different audience. The installation was shown in the 3D Printing & Fabrication area, as an example of what today's technology can create. People who come to Maker Faire want to know how things are made, and Hero Armor gave them plenty to look at.

Sasha Shapovalov printed every part of the sculpture after hours and covered the material costs. Volodymyr Liubarskyi prepared the model for 3D printing. Max Gurkivskyi welded the internal steel frame in his free time. Tetiana Malinko led the painting, bringing Zakhar's original colors to life. All of that work was standing in front of the visitors.

Hero Armor received two Editor's Choice ribbons. We are proud of them, and we are proud of the people whose work earned them. Most of those people did this alongside their jobs, for a cousin and a friend they wanted to honor.

Mriya Bass Party, 10 October

The third stop was the one closest to home. Mriya Bass Party took place at Bay Breeze in Sunnyvale, California. It was a Ukrainian community event for the Bay Area, hosted by Andrii Boboshko.

Andrii invited Hero Armor for a simple reason. Many Ukrainians in California were not at Burning Man and had only seen photographs. He wanted them to see the robot in person.

We were glad to say yes. The people at that party did not need Hero Armor explained to them. They understood why a Ukrainian artist's character, built by a team from several countries, was standing in a room with them.

Andrii Boboshko is also one of the people who supported us with power and community events. We thank him for both.

What we take from these weeks

Three places, three different crowds: an art show, a maker fair and a community party. In each one, people stopped, looked up at a two-meter robot on an illuminated podium, and asked who made it and why.

That question is why we keep going. Every time someone asks it, we get to say Zakhar's name.

Thank you to everyone who built, painted, printed, welded, carried and supported Hero Armor. And thank you to everyone who stopped to look.