Themes by tag: culture

Volodymyr became interested in pottery in his youth: he tried different techniques and learned from many masters. He had to quit doing it when Russia first attacked Ukraine in the east. Volodymyr mobilized in 2015, took up an anti-tank guided missile, and became an enemy of Russian tanks. After demobilization, he got back to his hobby of pottery. After February 24, 2022, Volodymyr began volunteering and helping Ukrainian defenders. In particular, he visited one of the capital’s hospitals to support the military and hold a pottery workshop for them. Today, the veteran and his wife conduct art therapy for the military in their workshop. They have enlisted the support of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund to scale up into a Pottery Art Center and create an art residence. They plan to take in more military personnel who need therapy.

• culture
• military
• psychological support
• volunteers

The artist Serhii Petrov, known professionally as Bob Basset, produces accessories in the style of techno-romanticism. Serhii first created the masks for himself: the man has a strabismus and says that the mask simplifies interpersonal communication. In January 2023, the artist created his first mask for a soldier, Masi Nayyem, who lost his eye at the front. According to Nayyem, the leather mask by Bob Basset is more comfortable than standard bandages because it has a triple fastening system and is made of soft leather. Serhii was asked to make a second mask by the daughter of an Azov soldier who was wounded in Mariupol.

The Mask for a Hero is a charity project the artist managed to get a grant for to cover the cost of materials and rent of a room to work on the masks for the military.

For reference: Bob Basset started his workshop back in 1989. He has collaborated with Metallica, Korn, Avril Lavigne, Zayn Malik, Ghost, Givenchy, Yiapanis, Riccardo Tisci, Beissoul & Einius.

• casualties
• culture
• military

Vinnytsia based volunteer Maksym Huzii received a trophy from the Ukrainian defenders from the Avdiivka axis – a used tube from the Javelin anti-tank system. Then Maksym got the idea to make something out of these weapons that could once again be useful for the Ukrainian army. Together with Vinnytsia engineers, Maksym created powerful audio systems based on the tubes. One speaker weighs 47 kilograms and produces a powerful sound. The volunteer plans to auction and raffle off these speakers among foreign donors in order to receive funding to buy ambulances, which are needed at the frontline. The first speaker has already been purchased by a Ukrainian IT worker who lives in the U.S. He bought it for UAH 500,000. 

• culture
• military
• volunteers
• Vinnytsia

On July 13, at 1:00 PM, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War will host a briefing on the large-scale project of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine – the Soviet-era coat of arms removed and replaced with the Ukrainian trident on Motherland’s shield being implemented.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, along with its partners, will present information about the stages, funding, challenges, decisions, and other details of the historical project to replace the USSR coat of arms with the trident on the shield of the Motherland Monument. Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine; Yurii Savchuk, Director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the World War II; Oleksii Pergamenshchyk, sculptor of the project;
Vasyl Borodai, a descendant of one of the authors of the sculpture of Motherland Monument.

Event accreditation is required.

For reference: 85% of Ukrainians voted to replace the USSR coat of arms with a trident on the shield of the Motherland monument in the Diia application polled last year.

• culture
• Kyiv

Kyiv will host an exhibition of art objects called “Weapon Transformation” during the “Stadium of Culture” charity festival on July 8-9

The Weapon Transformation project is an initiative that has involved more than 80 artists from all over Ukraine. Its goal is to transform spent weapons, including tubes and shell casings, into art objects. One of the project’s main priorities is to draw attention to the war in Ukraine and raise funds to support the army and rebuild the country. Over the six months since the project started, the sale of art objects has already raised more than 400 thousand UAH for the army’s needs. 

Journalists will have the opportunity to talk to the artists.

• culture
• weapon
• Kyiv

Rustem Skybin is a Crimean Tatar artist who has established his own style of ceramics called “Quru Isar”, which means “dry barrier” in the Crimean Tatar language. Rustem was forced to leave his native Crimea in 2014 due to the Russian invasion. After moving to the capital, he found himself living in his car as he did not have his own home. Later, when life started improving, he opened a workshop. But in 2022, Russia tried to take everything away from him again, this time in Kyiv. The man volunteered and evacuated those who could not leave the city.  Then he began to counteract information warfare waged against Ukraine by organizing information resistance. He created a series of posters about cities that were under Russian occupation and a “museum of trophies,” i.e., things left behind after the Russians retreated. He opened the museum in a symbolic place – a toilet. Now the “museum” displays more than 50 exhibits, which are given to the artist by his friends from the front.

• culture
• volunteers

Roman Pelekh, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, makes an old Ukrainian liqueur whose recipe was lost at the beginning of the last century. Before the full-scale invasion, Roman found 90 liters of alcohol called kontabas in an old abandoned hut in Zakarpattia and a notebook with a recipe. The drink’s main ingredient is blackcurrant buds, which are quite tricky to acquire. But Roman managed to resume production of the drink and even improved the recipe. After being wounded at the front and returning to civilian life, the man set up an actual kontabas production in Lviv.

• culture
• food
• military

The damaged Russian military equipment exhibit on Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv. The enemy UAVs, burned BM-21 ‘Grad’ rockets, broken tanks, trucks, and infantry fighting vehicles are among the pieces. The enemy drones and the remains of missiles regularly targeting Ukrainian cities are also on display. The Military History Museum of Ukraine prepared the exhibition. It will be open until 6:00 pm on June 18.

For reference: The Military History Museum of Ukraine collects artifacts of the Russian-Ukrainian war. There is currently an exhibition dedicated to the Russian cruiser Moskva’s destruction, featuring the remains of a Neptune anti-ship missile that hit the flagship and a life preserver from the ship.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Ukrainian photographer Marta Syrko founded the photo project “Sculpted” last December. The subjects of her photos are Ukrainian defenders who suffered as a result of the russian federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (These are soldiers who received injuries, burns or whose limbs were amputated.) Ten defenders have already participated in the photo project. Civilians who have suffered as a result of the war can also take part in the project.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Lviv

Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform to host an event dedicated “Culture vs. War” project about Ukrainian artists at war and the first documentary film about the ANTYTILA band release

Speakers:

• Iryna Borovets, Director General for Public Diplomacy and Communications Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
•  Marco Ferraro, program manager at the EU Delegation to Ukraine
•  Andrii Rizol, project producer
•  Alina Krasnianska, executive producer of the series of documentaries

•  Taras Topolia, the “Antytila” band leader
•  Serhii Vusyk, the “Antytila” band manager and musician
•  Dmytro Zholud, the “Antytila” band guitarist

In-person attendance of all participants.

The Culture vs. War project tells the world about the values of Ukrainian culture through the stories of artists who left their everyday lives and creative ambitions to defend the country. A key component of the project is a series of documentaries where Ukrainian musicians, filmmakers, writers, photographers, and other cultural figures are the main protagonists telling about this war through their own stories and memories.

Accreditation is mandatory. 

• culture
• military
• volunteers
• Kyiv