Where civilization ends and the so-called exclusion zone of Chernobyl begins artist Armin Koelbli has placed a giant sculpted egg. The sculpture, called Ovum II, is only 27 miles from the former nuclear plant on a highway roundabout, and is surrounded by abandoned villages and long-dead farms.

Koelbli has said that the egg will outlast the power plant by 1,000 years. Filled with letters from around the world, the sculpture is meant to function as a time capsule that will remain closed until the year 3000. The letters, Koelbli said, “express hopes of today and hopes for the future generations, for our children’s children.” They’re sealed inside of a secure drum that is identical to the ones used to dispose of and store radioactive waste.

Koelbli brought the egg in from Germany. The idea behind it is that life will break through the egg and survive radiation.