Themes by tag: culture

On September 3, a briefing for the organizers and participants of the Second KyivBookFest will take place at the Media Center Ukraine.

Running from September 5 to 8, the KyivBookFest will return for its second edition, featuring a large-scale book fair and a branch forum. Over 100 publishers are set to participate, with the festival offering more than 150 events throughout its duration.

The festival also includes a charitable initiative, aiming to raise UAH 1.5 million for the Army Reading Program of the Ukrainian Reformation Community. These funds will be used to purchase approximately 7,000 books for libraries in military educational institutions.

Participants:

– Vladyslav Kyrychenko, Owner of Nash Format Publishing House, Organizer of KyivBookFest;

– Anna Bondarchuk, Executive Director of the NGO Reformation;

– Anatolii Symovoniuk, Serviceman, Major, Representative of the NGO Reformation;

– Serhii Kruhlov, Deputy Head of the Kyiv Institute of the National Guard of Ukraine for Personnel Management, Col.

During the briefing, participants will highlight what makes this year’s festival special, provide an overview of the program, and introduce the event’s notable guests.

• culture
• Kyiv

This August 30, the Center for Civil Liberties, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization, will host an evocative evening of poetry and solidarity in Kyiv to honor the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The event, titled “Hold on! I’m Holding On!”, aims to bring together human rights activists, artists, and families of those imprisoned by russian forces, creating a poignant space for reflection and resistance.

In this intimate gathering, participants will read aloud poems written from and about captivity, sharing the pain and resilience of those who have been forcibly disappeared. The event seeks to amplify these voices, highlighting the importance of speaking out against such injustices.

The evening’s participants include:

– Akhtem Seitablaev, soldier, actor, and director;

– Tetiana Vlasova, poet;

– Iya Kiva, poet;

– Olena Tsyhipa, wife of political prisoner Serhii Tsyhipa;

– Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties.

Attendance is by accreditation only.

For reference: “Hold on! I’m Holding On!” is a poetry initiative launched by the Center for Civil Liberties. The project showcases the writings of renowned Ukrainian poets alongside the poignant verses of individuals currently enduring captivity in russia. Its goal is to shed light on the suffering and unyielding spirit of Ukrainians who have been detained during the conflict.

According to the Center for Civil Liberties, at least 7,000 civilians are currently held in prisons across russia and its temporarily occupied territories. The exact number of prisoners of war remains unknown. Both civilians and soldiers suffer egregious violations of international law, enduring torture and being kept in a chilling information void.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On August 29, Kyiv will open a photo exhibition “Days of Remembrance of the Heroes of the Battle of Ilovaisk (2014)” to commemorate the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine. This year marks 10 years since one of the most tragic events in our fight against russia. The photo exhibition is a reminder of those events and a tribute to all those who were the first to defend our country in 2014.

Photos that have already become historic and were taken by photographers who worked in the area of ​​the fiercest fighting near Ilovaisk, Donetsk region, in August 2014, in the deployment area of “Donbas” Special Purpose Battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine will be presented in the capitol’s downtown. A kind of photo anthology of those events was created by Maxim Dondyuk, Oleksandr Glyadyelov, Markiian Lyseiko and Maksym Levin, who managed to get out of the Ilovaisk encirclement alive.

Maksym Levin died in occupied Kyiv region during the full-scale invasion in the spring of 2022, when he was documenting the crimes of the russians.

These more than fifty photos are just part of a large collection, which represents facts about the battle of Ilovaisk from August 10 to the “green corridor of death” on August 29, 2014.

 At the opening of the exhibition, the Ilovaisk events will be told by:

• Nataliia Kharchenko, mother of Yevhen “Red” Kharchenko, a participant in the Revolution of Dignity and the russo-Ukrainian war, who died in the battles for Ilovaisk;
• photographers Oleksandr Glyadyelov and Markiian Lyseiko;
• Roman Zinenko, soldier, participant in the battles for Ilovaisk;

A representative of the organizers of the photo exhibition will also speak at the event, mainly Olha Salo, Deputy Director General for Development, Cultural and Educational Work of the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity.

For reference: Organizers of the event are “’Sarmat’ Military-Patriotic Association of Combatant” NGO, “Invincible Mothers of Ukraine” NGO, Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine and the National Memorial Complex of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred – Museum of the Revolution of Dignity.

• culture
• military
• Kyiv

Ania Kudzia is a Polish citizen who restores monuments for a living. For the past ten years, the woman and her team have been helping to restore Ukraine’s architectural heritage. The restorers have set up a workshop in Lviv where they work on sculptures.

With the beginning of the full-scale war, Ania together with a group of Polish-Ukrainian restorers founded the Ukraina Pomagamy initiative. They buy cars and medicines for the front and assemble first aid kits for soldiers in their workshop. Ania Kudzia delivers all of it to the front line by herself or together with a team of women. Since the initiative was created, volunteers have managed to send seven cars to the front, including an ambulance.

In addition, the restorers underwent a tactical medicine course in Poland, and now they plan to complete the next level of the course, because in the future they are considering the possibility of working as medics at the front.

Ania Kudzia and her team are in Lviv. Restorers are ready to communicate with journalists, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• volunteers
• Lviv

“Symphony of Ukrainian Fairy Tales,” an inclusive and interactive theatrical event for children with disabilities performed by the Kyiv Classic Orchestra under the direction of UNESCO Artist for Peace Herman Makarenko will be held in Kyiv on August 28.

In “Symphony of Ukrainian Fairy Tales” musical and theatrical art are combined using an interactive approach. The script is based on Ukrainian folklore. The performance will feature the works of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, Mykola Lysenko, Levko Kolodub and Volodymyr Ptushkin, as well as Ukrainian folk melodies.

The program of the event includes: press briefing; performance; communication with participants and the audience.

For reference: The project is supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

• children
• culture
• Kyiv

On August 24, the Children of War global photo project will start in Kyiv. It aims to draw attention to the plight of children who suffered from the russian aggression. This important initiative headed by Sofia Tchkonia, a well-known entrepreneur and founder of the Be Next charity fund, will start its journey in Kyiv and then continue to the main squares of the world.

The Children of War project is comprised of powerful images captured by talented Ukrainian photographers Marina Karpiy and Sasha Mazur.

The project serves as an important platform to amplify the voices of young Ukrainians, providing a visual narrative that conveys the emotional burden and physical impact of war on innocent lives. By sharing their stories with a global audience, organizers hope to bring compassion, understanding and support to these brave children and the communities in which they live.

French artist JR and the InsideOut project cooperate with the initiative.

A similar exhibition will be opened in Brussels on the same day.

• children
• culture
• Kyiv

The famous French street artist James Colomina has installed a new work on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the iconic square in Kyiv. The artwork depicts a child emerging from the walls of the Main Post Office to draw the Ukrainian trident. This child symbolizes a messenger coming to support Ukraine at a site that commemorates Ukrainian heroes.

In total, James planned to have five red sculptures in Kyiv. The other four works should be installed over the next few days. All sculptures are dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine, because the artist wants to highlight the reality of the war and express support for the Ukrainian people.

In addition to the sculpture in Ukraine, James Colomina created a mobile piece with the image of putin on a toy tank. This sculpture moves from city to city and country to country symbolizing the destructive effects of war on a global scale. The artist placed putin on a tank in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris without a permit. Then the sculpture was moved to Barcelona, ​​Central Park in New York, and later to Regent’s Park in London. On the anniversary of russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the sculpture was installed in Brussels near the European Parliament. And in August 2023, it was moved to the Villa Borghese park in Rome. The sculpture continues on its way while the war continues.

Journalists can talk to the artist by prior arrangement.

• culture
• Kyiv

The “pomitna” project, developed by the uzahvati team with the Veteran Hub’s concept and supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine and Ukrainian Railways, is set to debut at Kyiv’s railway station.

In this immersive performance, participants are equipped with special headphones and follow a designated route, engaging in a 90-minute auditory journey. The performance features audio stories from 20 women whose lives have been affected by the war, either awaiting their loved ones’ return or reflecting on their experiences. These narratives explore their personal trials, aspirations, and the intersection of civilian and military life.

The uzahvati team plans to present 28 performances by September 15, each accommodating 25 spectators. While attendance is free, prior registration is required.

• culture
• Kyiv

On August 23, Kyiv will unveil “In Memory of Us,” an exhibition showcasing war sketches by Oleksandr Komiakhov. This collection features military-themed artworks, predominantly created by Komiakhov during his service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The exhibition will display approximately fifty graphic pieces, forming a visual report of the current wartime landscape. The sketches include rapid situational depictions—war landscapes, detailed elements of military life presented like user manuals, and images of buildings destroyed by invaders, highlighting the fragility of peace and human existence.

Komiakhov focuses particularly on soldiers, capturing their world with vivid detail: trenches, dugouts, camouflage, weapons, combat gear, and their roles in missions and medical evacuations. 

A dedicated section of the exhibition will feature sketches from expeditions documenting russian crimes against cultural heritage.

A lifelong artist, Oleksandr has focused on military-themed art since the Anti-Terrorist Operation began in 2014.

For reference: Oleksandr Komiakhov is a Ukrainian illustrator from a Kyiv-based artistic family, founder of the Ukrainika project, and co-founder of the Illustrator educational community. His graphic novel, “DAD”, portrays the Revolution of Dignity and the journey from Maidan to the russian-Ukrainian war. Komiakhov also serves as a leading artist at the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity and a member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

• culture
• Kyiv

The “33 years of Ukraine’s Independence Through the Eyes of Donbas” event will be held at the War Museum on August 25 to commemorate the Independence of Ukraine. Opinion leaders closely connected to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been invited to participate in the discussion.

In order to understand the events of the last three decades, it is important to examine how the people of Donbas identified themselves in 1991 and how their views have changed over the following years.

Some of the topical issues to be considered during the event include:

1. Prerequisites for the compact settlement in the region and the factors shaping the population’s mentality.

2. History of Wild Fields — Donbas in 1600-1917 and the “novorossiya” myth.

3. Russification of the population of Donbas and the “soviet person” education.

4. Changes in the mentality of the Donbas population and Ukraine’s loss of the patriotic majority that voted for secession from russia in the 1991 referendum.

• culture
• Kyiv