Themes by tag: culture

On December 23, Kyiv will host an offline screening of the full-length documentary “Christmas Together” by Ukraїner. The film will simultaneously premiere in 4 other cities of Ukraine.

“Christmas Together” is an evocative full-length film illustrating how young people from all over Ukraine united under a common idea – to bring the holiday spirit to the de-occupied territories. In January 2023, three separate initiatives embarked on journeys to Sloboda area and Donetsk region to support people who had survived the occupation and the horrors of the russian invasion.

The idea of bringing young people together and taking the vertep theater to the East of Ukraine belongs to Ukraїner volunteer Viktor Perfetskyi, who comes from the village of Volytsia in Podillia area. A similar campaign “Christmas together” existed in the 2000s. At that time, families in the west of Ukraine hosted children from the east and the south for Christmas in order to introduce them to the traditions preserved in Halychyna, Volyn and Podillia areas. Now the Ukraїner team has resumed the campaign, but in a slightly different way.

During the trips, the vertep theaters visited Kharkiv, Slobozhanske, Balakliia, Izyum, Khrestyshche, Derhachi, Mali and Velyki Prokhody, Mala Rohan, Trostianka, and Okhtyrka.

Pre-registration is required. The team that contributed to the film’s creation will be present in Kyiv.

For reference: Ukraїner is a community and organization that has been researching Ukraine and the Ukrainian context since 2016, telling stories to Ukrainians themselves, and sharing them with the world, having translated them into dozens of languages. On February 24, 2022, russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. On the same day, Ukraїner relaunched all its communication channels and began talking about the war and overcoming the disasters caused by the occupying forces. 

• culture
• Kyiv

On December 25, the largest didukh in Ukraine, measuring 7.5 meters high will be installed in Kyiv. The trident-shaped didukh will be made of wheat. It was created by paratrooper Yaroslav Kuchma, who was temporarily unable to walk due to an injury, and 95-year-old Pelageya Zhyvko from the Lviv region.

News media to cover participants giving comments on the event:

– the National Register of Records of Ukraine experts;

– Tetiana Volochai, Director at MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation (that provided financial support to the initiative);

– Pavlo Moroz, Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department of MHP;

– Oksana Poviakel, Director General of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine;

– Yaroslav Kuchma, paratrooper, commander of the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Event accreditation is required.

For reference: Didukh is a Ukrainian Christmas decoration made of ears of grain (originally a pagan idol, a symbol of a patron ancestor, and a symbol of harvest, prosperity, and wealth).

• culture
• religion
• Kyiv

On December 23, the exhibition “Fragility” will open in Kyiv. This exhibition is dedicated to prisoners of war and those who are waiting for their relatives and friends from captivity.

In the first days of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, defenders and workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant were under the russian occupation.

On March 31, 2022, the russians captured 169 Ukrainian National Guardsmen on the territory of the Chernobyl NPP and took them to Bryansk region of the russian federation. 108 of them still remain in captivity.

In order to draw attention to these prisoners of war and support the families who are waiting for the return of their loved ones, a gallery in the capital will display paintings, sculptures and digital works by more than 20 contemporary foreign and Ukrainian artists.

At the opening, everyone will be able to talk with relatives and friends of the Guardsmen — the defenders of the Chernobyl NPP — and watch a short documentary made by Babylon’13 film collective about the work of combat medics from Hospitallers battalion.

50 of the presented works will be available for purchase at an online auction. Funds will be directed to the Hospitallers battalion to support “Avstriika” hospital on wheels.

The event requires accreditation.

• casualties
• culture
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Odesa National Fine Art Museum resumes its work after being hit by a russian missile. On December 15, an Open Day will be held there. Journalists are welcome to cover the press conference.

For reference, on November 6, 2023, the museum planned to celebrate its 124th anniversary. A day before the festivities, the russian rocket hit the area close to the museum. The shock wave damaged the administration building, and the exhibition halls were also damaged. Experts set about fixing the consequences of the damage, and the museum was closed to visitors.

• culture
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• Odesa

On December 10, in Kyiv, Plast will hold the first official event in Ukraine to transfer the Light of Bethlehem to the military, civil and volunteer organizations. In particular, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “Come back Alive” Foundation, the Serhiy Prytula Foundation, BUR, ULA and many others will receive a lamp with the Light from the Holy Land.

Plast scouts will receive a lamp with the Light of Bethlehem at a traditional scouting ceremony in Vienna on the morning of December 10 and will immediately take it to Kyiv. The event in the capital will begin with a marathon of good deeds for the military. Plast scouts and guests will make trench candles, helmets, bracelets and letters. Then this winter’s first official transfer of the Peace Light of Bethlehem in Ukraine will begin: Plast will share the Light with everyone present.

Later, through Ukrzaliznytsia, it will be distributed to all corners of the country. Lamps will also be delivered for defenders at the front lines.

Background: Plast has been participating in the “scout relay” of the Bethlehem Light for more than 30 years.

• culture
• military
• religion
• volunteers

Mykhailo Oliinyk is a composer, pianist, and music producer. He was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk in April 2023. Mykhailo is a member of the Cultural Forces Public Organization, which provides emotional and psychological support to defenders on the front line. He got a call sign “Pianist”. 

Recently, the man put out a record of “A Moment” piano pieces composed at the front line. This music has already been performed hundreds of times in forestation areas, destroyed buildings, fields, hospitals, and impromptu concert venues for the defenders. The album includes seven compositions: “Donbas”, “Huliaipole”, “Prayer for Brothers-in-Arms”, “Water Dance”, “Music Box”, “Peach Sky”, and “Ukrainian Sky”.

As a member of the Cultural Forces Public Organization Mykhailo plays several concerts every day at the front line.

By prior arrangement, journalists are welcome to talk to Mykhailo online or offline.

For reference: Mykhailo Oliinyk is a graduate of the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music named after R. Glier and the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy. In the civilian world, he creates music for artists and businesses. He is a coach for young musicians and a lecturer on copyright issues.

• culture
• military

Andrii Maksymchuk mobilized on the second day of the full-scale Russian invasion. A military unit, where the soldier served as a member, was the first to begin a push to regain territory of the Chornobyl zone during the liberation of the Kyiv region. Later, he took part in the operations at the country’s embattled east in the Izium and Bakhmut directions, and now he fights in the Zaporizha direction.

Andrii wrote a children’s poem in his spare time. He dedicated the lines written in the trenches to his young sons. The youngest of them, Myroslav, is fond of dragons and magical creatures and asked his father to create a book about them. The work on the poem lasted 7 months, in between battles. Andrii completed the work in the Izium region and titled it “Traveling in Ukraine and the Magic Dragon”. Andrii’s comrades-in-arms were the first to read the children’s book, and his friends helped with illustrations and raising funds for the first thousand copies.

Today, they have managed to sell 3000 copies of the book, all the proceeds will be directed to support the 132nd separate reconnaissance battalion of the airborne assault troops, where Andrii Maksymchuk serves. The money has already been used to buy drones, and armor and cover military medical care needs. 

• children
• culture
• military

Starting on December 1, the collaboration song “NO MORE WAR” by the Ukrainian rock band “MAD HEADS” and Slovak reggae band “MEDIAL BANANA” is available on all streaming platforms, as well as on YouTube.

The song was mostly written in English, but the musicians sang one verse in Ukrainian. The collaboration was initiated by Vadym Krasnooky, “MAD HEADS” front man, the musical idea belongs to the Slovak colleagues.

The song was written in the summer of 2023. It premiered live at the big festival “UPRISING” in Bratislava at the end of August during the performance of “MEDIAL BANANA.” Vadym Krasnooky joined his colleagues on stage.

Vadym Krasnooky is currently outside Ukraine. He is ready for an online interview.

For reference: In April 2022, Vadym Krasnooky, “MAD HEADS” front man presented the song “Cruiser Moskva” at Ukraine Media Center in Lviv. This song is about the sunken flagship of the russian Black Sea Fleet. The song went viral on social media.

• culture

On December 5, in Kyiv, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, together with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) (Paris, France) will hold a forum on the topic: ” Rebuilding and Restoring the Cultural Heritage of Ukraine after the Big War.” The forum will be held under the auspices of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) with headquarters in Rome. Rostyslav Karandieiev, acting First Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy will participate in the event.

The main goal of the event is to develop a strategy for the restoration of cultural heritage, which will take into account both the positions of the state and the professional community. As part of the event, experts from Croatia and Poland will share their experience in restoring monuments and cultural objects

Journalists are welcome to learn more about the participants of the forum and cover this event.

For reference: According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, 835 cultural heritage objects were destroyed or damaged as a result of russia’s full-scale aggression in the period from February 24, 2022 to September 25, 2023. Of them, 118 are monuments of national significance, 653 are of local significance, and 64 are newly discovered.

• culture
• reconstruction
• Kyiv

December 3 marks the 301st birth anniversary of the philosopher and prominent Ukrainian Hryhorii Skovoroda. In honor of the holiday, the National Literary and Memorial Museum of Hryhorii Skovoroda, damaged by a Russian missile hit, is launching a collection called “301 True Friends of Skovoroda.” Anyone can contribute to the restoration and preservation of the museum by donating funds, setting up a mini fundraising event on their social media pages, or, for example, collecting books and paintings for the museum’s holdings. 

On May 6, 2022, the museum’s premises suffered a blow by a Russian artillery strike. The shockwave damaged the nineteenth-century storeroom and the Manager’s House, which are important components of the museum complex. The explosion caused a large-scale fire that scorched 280 square meters of the building. A statue of Hryhorii Skovoroda survived the recoil attack.

For reference: The museum is located on the territory of the Memorial Complex of the philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda in the Kharkiv region. The space has the status of a historical monument of national importance. There is also a grave of Hryhorii Skovoroda on the territory.

• culture
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv