Themes by tag: culture

On November 28, an exhibition “100 Paintings by Wives of Real Heroes” will take place in Kyiv as part of the Music and Poetry Festival. The paintings were created by women who lost their husbands in war. 

The exhibition was made possible by the charity project “A Thousand Love Stories. Paintings by Wives of Real Heroes”. It was launched 10 months ago by artist Oleg Yurov. During this time, 200 women took part in art workshops to create paintings in memory of their husbands who died defending Ukraine. In particular, women painted dreams, objects, or phenomena that they associate with their husbands.

Journalists will have the opportunity to talk to the participants of the charity project during the exhibition on November 28 and December 2.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

On November 21, the Maidan Museum together with the Ukrainian House and partners invite everyone to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity. The exhibition ” Maidan: Birth of a Dream. First battle” will be held in Kyiv. All three floors of the Ukrainian House, an important part of the history of the Revolution of Dignity, will host the event.

Visitors, in particular, will be able to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the most powerful peaceful protest in the world, remember the events, see original items of Maidan protestors and unique artifacts from the protests.

After the opening, everyone is invited to watch and discuss the film “Euromaidan SOS” together with DocuDays NGO’s DOCU/CLUB network.

Registration is required.

In addition, On the Day of Dignity and Freedom, a joint prayer for Ukraine and its freedom fighters will take place at 10:00 AM. Then, in memory of the fallen defenders of Ukraine, the Bell of Dignity will be rung, flowers will be placed at the portraits of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, and lights will be lit in their honor.

For reference: The Day of Dignity and Freedom in Ukraine is celebrated every year on November 21 to mark the beginning of two revolutions: the Orange Revolution (2004) and the Revolution of Dignity (2013).

• casualties
• culture
• dead
• Kyiv

On November 18, “JAM FACTORY ART CENTER” in Lviv will officially open its doors to the public. In particular, exhibitions of modern art will take place here. The opening of the art center will feature “Our Years, Our Words, Our Losses, Our Searches, Our We” large-scale exhibition of more than a hundred works by Ukrainian artists, which a curatorial team consisting of Natalia Matsenko, Borys Filonenko, Kateryna Yakovlenko and the institution’s staff worked on for a year. An exhibition about the history of the “Jam Factory” building and the Pidzamche district will open in the old tower. This exhibition will become permanent. In addition, public spaces will become available on the territory of “JAM FACTORY.”

The idea of creating a new cultural center in Lviv was born in 2015, when philanthropist and historian Dr. Harald Binder decided to support the development of “JAM FACTORY” as a center of contemporary art. “JAM FACTORY ART CENTER” is located in a former industrial building, which was first used as a distillery and later as a jam bottling plant.

• culture
• Lviv

“Honored!” charity project was organized to support the 23rd separate infantry battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operating in the combat zone. The project is implemented by Dukat Auction House in the form of auction & exhibition (silent auction) in Kyiv. The opening of the exhibition will take place on November 14, and the final auction will take place on November 23.

The lots include: paintings, graphics art, sculptures by artists of Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora, whose work has become a national treasure. In particular, there are works of Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915–1985), Lyudmila Morozova (1907–1997), Mykhailo Chereshniovsky (1911–1994).

Ukrainian antique books will also be put up for auction: old prints of the 18th century, lifetime editions of Ukrainian classics (T. Shevchenko, P. Kulish, etc.), books with autographs by prominent figures of national culture, collector’s editions of the Ukrainian diaspora.

Auction lots will also include items of war (shells, deactivated projectiles, remnants of cluster munitions), transformed into art objects by the best artists of Ukraine.

• culture
• Kyiv

Photographer Uliana Sidletska, together with makeup artist and stylist Victoria Sanatos, conducts photoshoots for women. They say that they work on the inner state of women. In particular, they help them break free from insecurity and see themselves differently, during photo sessions. 

Two months ago, a woman who had lost her husband in the war came to have some snapshots. After she posted the photos on social media, she faced judgment from people blaming her for inappropriate behavior as a widow doing a photoshoot. Then, to support other wives of fallen Ukrainian heroes, Viktoria and Uliana came up with the idea to create the photo project “I AM A WOMAN” aiming to manifest that women should never forget about themselves. Uliana and Viktoria take photos of fallen heroes’ wives free of charge.

Eight women have already taken part in the photo project. According to the organizers, while posing for photos, women are starting to unfold themselves: they talk about themselves, recall their dreams, and some even say that they have realized something they have been putting off for a long time.

The “I AM A WOMAN” photo project exhibition will open on December 17. The project applications are accepted from other country regions.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Vinnytsia

Building shelled, employees pressured, and more than 10,000 of the most valuable exhibits looted by the occupiers are what the Shоvkunenko Kherson Regional Art Museum has experienced since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia.

It was a few days shy of the de-occupation of Kherson (November 11, 2022) that the museum heist was committed by armed Russian occupiers under the slogans of “preserving cultural property.” The artifacts were taken as plunder to the occupied Crimea. The identification of the missing items is currently underway.

Apart from that, the occupiers hit the museum building twice: in November 2022 (windows were smashed, and the facade was shattered) and in April 2023.

Journalists can send a request to arrange interviews and filming in the museum.

For reference: Before the full-scale invasion, the museum’s collection included nearly 14,000 pieces of art.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Valentyna Hantseva has been working in the library of Soldatske village, Sumy oblast for 32 years. A few months before the full-scale invasion, the library had undergone modern renovation and purchased new equipment. But the building of the library could not withstand the air strike of the russians, who aimed right at the center of the occupied village. Only the roof and walls remained of the library: everything inside the building was damaged by the blast wave. Despite the occupation and the enemy aircraft, Valentyna, together with her husband, began to gather the undamaged books and hide them in grain sacks. The woman managed to take out and save more than 1000 books.

In April 2022, the Ukrainian military de-occupied the village. A philanthropist from Germany helped restore the library premises, and last fall, Valentyna opened the doors of the library to readers again.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• women
• Sumy

Oleksandr Knyha has been the director of the Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater named after Mykola Kulish for over 30 years. He is also an honorary citizen of Kherson and a member of the regional council.

At the beginning of Russia’s all-out invasion, Oleksandr ended up being in Russia-occupied territory. On March 23, 2022, the Russian military arrested him. After interrogation, they released him, but a few days later they came to the theater to force Oleksandr to cooperate. The man began to look for ways to flee life under occupation. He managed to escape on April 1, 2022.

After all he has been through, he did not quit his favorite occupation. While in the Ukraine-controlled area, he was preparing the annual Melpomene of Tavria international theater festival, which had previously been held in Kherson.  And later he launched the theater in evacuation.

Meanwhile, the occupation authorities appointed a man who used to be a security guard at the theater in Kherson to the position of the director. They even “renamed” the Mykola Kulish Theater to the Russian Academic Theater.

After Ukraine forced retook Kherson on November 11, 2022, Oleksandr and some of the actors came back to their hometown. Despite enemy shelling, the artists work in a sheltered art hub. Oleksandr, along with other residents of the Kherson region, had to face the consequences of the flooding of his native land due to the occupiers’ blowing up the Kakhovka HPP dam. His house was underwater in the occupied flooded town of Oleshky.  

Journalists are welcome to talk to Oleksandr offline or online.

For reference: November 11, 2023, marks a year anniversary of the Kherson liberation from the Russian occupation. Also, during last year’s counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine regained some districts of Kherson region and part of Mykolaiv region on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

• culture
• occupation
• Kherson

The book “Visual Diary of War” has been recently published. It contains 366 illustrations by artist Antonina Semenova and the same number of Ukrainians’ stories about one year of russia’s full-scale invasion that she collected.

The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation provided financial support to print the book. Its print run is 100 copies. Some of the books will be sent to volunteers/activists who will use the books in their charity fundraisers. Another part has already been sent to the libraries of Ukraine. Copies of the “Diary” will also go to war museums and Ukrainian cultural centers abroad.

Antonina plans to have the book translated into English to spread war stories around the world.

The artist prefers interviews in online format or by phone.

For reference: Previously, illustrator and artist Antonina Semenova worked on alphabet themes for children. And on February 24, 2022, she realized that she could not draw peaceful illustrations and had to reflect on the events of that day. So, the idea to create a “Visual Diary of War” came to her. Every day, the woman drew one small sketch about what was happening in the country. Later, she decided to transform the diary from the artist’s personal lifeline into a project encompassing the voice of different Ukrainians.

• culture
• women

On November 1, Lviv will present the book “History is not without us: the formation of the movement for the rights of people with disabilities,” which was created by the team of the “Fight For Right,” NGO for the rights of people with disabilities, with the financial support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The book is the first in Ukraine to investigate the history of the formation of the public movement for the rights of people with disabilities through the stories of its 27 associates.

The people, whose stories are mentioned in the book, will take part in the presentation, in particular:

• Oksana Potymko, Executive Director of the Lviv regional branch of “Ukrainian Union of People with Disabilities – USI” All-Ukrainian NGO,
• Andrii Demchuk, Paralympic Games champion and co-founder of the “Accessible Cinema” project,
• Serhii Titarenko, major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military psychologist, who helps soldiers who have returned from the front,
• Maryna Holovina, the first volunteer of active rehabilitation camps in Ukraine, co-founder of the “All-Ukrainian Association of Persons with Disabilities “Active Rehabilitation Group” NGO.

The participants will also include:

• Yuliia Sachuk, Head of the “Fight For Right” NGO,
• Iryna Tekuchova, expert on the rights of people with disabilities, the “Fight For Right” NGO,
• Hanna Zaremba-Kosovych, researcher, Head of Community Building at the “Fight For Right” NGO and Concept Editor of the book.

Event Moderator:

• Tetiana Herasymova, Director of the “Fight For Right” NGO.

The book will be released in several inclusive formats: in addition to the full printed version, the book will also be published in an easy-to-read format for people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. The electronic and audio versions of the book will also be freely available.

For reference: the “Fight For Right” NGO for human rights of people with disabilities was founded in 2017 by people with disabilities themselves. The organization’s vision is a world in which everyone knows and respects human rights.

• culture
• Lviv