Themes by tag: culture

On October 24, Kyiv will open the exhibition Protest/Architecture. Barricades and Camps: The World and Ukraine at the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity. The event, organized in collaboration with the German Architectural Museum in Frankfurt, and supported by the Goethe-Institut, is also in partnership with the Museum of the History of Kyiv. This exhibition coincides with two significant anniversaries in Ukraine’s history: the 20th anniversary of the Orange Revolution and the 11th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity.

The exhibit explores the architectural elements of protest movements worldwide, comparing them to those seen in Ukraine’s historic uprisings. Highlights include the barricades of the 1848 revolution in Western Europe, the 2013-2014 Maidan protests in Kyiv, tent cities from the Arab Spring, and the 2019 light laser demonstrations in Hong Kong.

The Maidan Museum team will also delve into how Kyiv’s urban space became integral to the protests. They’ll examine how the Orange Revolution of 2004 shaped the swift organization and spatial structure of the Euromaidan protests in 2013, which in turn drew on the lessons from the 1990 Revolution on Granite.

Accreditation is required to attend the event.

• culture
• Kyiv

Kyiv will host the “Festival of First Plays”  from October 18-20, showcasing works written by participants in the Veterans’ Theater project. This event focuses on the development of emerging playwrights, with every aspect—from the directors’ efforts to the actors’ performances and audience engagement—centered on helping military veterans learn the craft of drama, write their first plays, and quickly gain stage experience.

Audiences will have the chance to see 11 new plays written by veterans and active military personnel, along with four works from civilian participants in the project.

The Veterans’ Theater project was created by the Communications Department of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (TRO Media), in collaboration with the Theater of Playwrights. 

Journalists can access the full event program for the Festival, which runs from October 18 to 20.

• culture
• Kyiv

On October 25, media representatives are invited to visit the birthplace of Taras Shevchenko and report on the completion of the restoration of houses and sites associated with the poet’s childhood in the Cherkasy region. These include the Budyshchanskyi windmill (a more than 150-year-old mill the restoration of which began in 2023), the renovated house of Taras Shevchenko’s grandfather, and the restored house where the poet was born. Departure from Kyiv.

Program of the press tour:

– National Reserve “Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland”: laying flowers at the grave of Taras Shevchenko’s mother; guided tour for guests, journalists and children of servicemen;

– Transfer to Budyshchanskyi windmill;

– Guided tour of the windmill, which is called a witness of Taras Shevchenko’s childhood, with a brief review of the site;

– Transfer to the Moryntsi museum complex of the National Reserve;

– Guided tour of the museum with restored houses and exhibitions related to Taras Shevchenko’s childhood; interaction with interactive displays; signing of a memorandum between representatives of the museum and the MHP-Hromadi charitable foundation.

Invited guests:

– Yurii Melnyk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MHP-Hromadi;

– Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian politician, 3rd President of Ukraine;

– Nataliia Kryvda, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF);

– Vadym Loshenko, Chairman of the Ecological Movement of Cherkasy Region NGO;

– Liudmyla Shevchenko, General Director of the National Reserve “Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland”;

– Yurii Pikovskyi, Head of the State Administration of Zvenyhorodka District;

– Oleksandr Saienko, Head of the Zvenyhorodka City Council.

Accreditation is required to attend the event.

• culture
• Cherkasy

The Ukrainian YouTube channel “Zahіn Kinomaniv” and the Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation will host a closed charity premiere of the film “The Kurbas Phenomenon” in Kyiv on October 16.

“The Kurbas Phenomenon” is a documentary film about the Ukrainian director, actor, playwright, founder of the Young Theatre and the Berezil Theatre, Les Kurbas. It tells the story of a man who created beautiful things in the darkest of times, and how one person can change an entire industry and inspire an entire generation.

The film was made by the team of “Zahіn Kinomaniv”, the authors are Vitaliy Gordienko and Stanislav Veselskyi. The composer is Ehor Hrushyn and the animation was made by Anastasiia Falileieva.

The event will be attended by members of the film team, as well as Ukrainian public figures and bloggers. The presentation will include a charity auction of exclusive film merchandise designed by the team.

Prior accreditation is required.

• culture
• Kyiv

On October 15, the Media Center Ukraine will host a press conference to introduce the project “Kobzarstvo. Epic Tradition” along with unveiling the DUMA portal, designed to bolster the recognition of UNESCO’s “Safeguarding Programme for the Kobza and Wheel Lyre Tradition” and to preserve and promote the culture of Ukrainian kobzars.

The event will also showcase various creative elements of the project, including live performances by kobza musicians, educational films, and kobza “business cards.” Attendees will learn about the important role kobzars have played throughout history, especially during times of war.

Participants:

– Oles Sanin, Ukrainian filmmaker, actor, producer, and lyre player;

– Taras Kompanichenko, cultural activist, kobzar, bandura and lyre player, senior soldier of the 241st Separate Territorial Defence Brigade;

– Mykola Tovkailo, kobzar, archaeologist, priest, and leader of the Kyiv-based Kobzarskyi Tsekh (Kobzar Guild);

– Taras Dorotskyi, kobzar, lyre player, and member of the Lviv-based Kobzarskyi Tsekh (Kobzar Guild). 

For reference:

In late 2022, the “Kobzar-Lirnyk Tradition” (kobzarstvo) was added to Ukraine’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This year, Ukraine submitted a nomination for the “Safeguarding Programme of Kobza and Wheel Lyre Tradition” to be included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, with the Ukrainian request prioritized for 2024 review.

Additionally, October 17 marks the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

• culture
• Kyiv

On October 5 and 6 the premiere of the play “Among Three” based on the work of the Kherson writer Alona Movchan and directed by Nadia Ageeva-Shved will take place on the chamber stage of the National Operetta of Ukraine. This is a joint project of the National Operetta of Ukraine and the Kherson Regional Academic Theater named after Mykola Kulish. The play “Among Three” tells the story of the peaceful Kherson that everyone misses, about small problems that seem global but are easily solved, about relationships, humor and love that can save the world.

Background: Kherson was occupied by russians at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). Ukrainian forces liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city on a regular basis.

• culture
• Kyiv

Folklorist Yaryna Sizyk, animation director Mariia Ozirna, and the Kherson Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko have launched a project dedicated to the paintings stolen by russians during the occupation of the city. According to the estimates of the museum staff, the occupiers stole about ten thousand works of art.

The goal of the project is to try to recreate what was taken by the russians. So far, the team has “reproduced” Mykhailo Bryansky’s (1830-1908) painting “Portrait of a Girl in an Embroidered Dress.” The painting wasn’t just repainted, it was modernized and animated. Ukrainian model and singer Dariia Astafieva helped bring it to life as the artists transformed her into the girl in the embroidered dress from the stolen canvas. For the animation, the team used a shirt embroidered during the occupation by Inna Mykutska, a Kherson guide.

They also recreated the oil painting by Serhii Vasylkivsky (1854-1917) “Cossacks in the Steppe.” Ukrainian soldiers Roman “Dobryak” Kolesnyk and Stanislav “Ref” Zorii took part in the reproduction of this painting. Yaryna and Mariia added the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, There Beyond the Seas…” performed by the band Shchuka-Ryba to this animation.

The founders of the project are now preparing the next restorations and are in talks with Ukrainian influencers.

Yaryna Sizyk and Mariia Ozirna are available for interviews with journalists in Kyiv.

For reference: The russians occupied Kherson at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). Ukrainian forces liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city on a regular basis.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kherson
• Kyiv

On October 4, the media representatives are invited to the opening of “Memory of the Theater,” a new exhibition that merges theatrical artifacts with modern sculpture, as part of Lviv Sculpture Week 2024. This collaborative project, presented by the Maria Zankovetska Theater and Ya Gallery Art Center, is curated by Pavlo Gudimov and will be open to the public from October 5 through December 1, 2024.

The exhibition will transform the theater’s opulent space into an immersive installation featuring items tied to the theater’s history, alongside contemporary sculptures by renowned artists such as Mykola Malyshko, Olexa Furdiyak, Volodymyr Semkiv, Denys Shymanskyi, Ivan Samotos, Oleksii Abramov, Volodymyr Loboda, Vasyl Hrynevych, Rostyslav Karpukhin, Olha Bezpalkiv, Olena Blank, Vasyl Zvizhanskiy, Oleksii Konoshenko, Hanna Druhl, Yaroslav Motyka, Mariana Motyka, Oleksii Zolotariov, Ihor Kovalevych, and others.

The centerpiece of the exhibition includes a variety of items linked to the theater’s legacy and backstage life, many of which have never been showcased publicly before. These artifacts range from dressing room cabinets, stage models, and vintage wigs to unique objects like counterweights used for moving scenery and old containers for storing props—pieces typically hidden away in dressing rooms, storage areas, and even the theater’s museum collection.

Event speakers:

• Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration;
• Andriy Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv;
• Pavlo Gudimov, Curator of the Exhibition and Lviv Sculpture Week;
• Maksym Holenko, General Director and Artistic Director of the Maria Zankovetska National Theater.

• culture
• Lviv

Anna Hin is a journalist and writer from Kharkiv. Lately she has been creating unique jewelry from Kharkiv flowers and tiny fragments of rockets and bombs. 

Anna became the creator of the “Flowers from the Unbreakable” initiative by chance. This spring, she once again brought foreign journalists to North Saltivka (the district of Kharkiv that suffered the most during the full-scale russian invasion). Despite the destroyed buildings around her, the sounds of sirens and explosions, she could not take her eyes off the incredible beauty of the poppies growing there. In the evening, despite the danger, Anna returned to pick the flowers and later decided that such beauty should be preserved. She found information online about working with epoxy resin and soon began collecting other flowers from the frontline town. First she made them into coasters, then into jewelry. 

One day, while walking her dog near the Epicentre construction hypermarket destroyed by the occupiers, Anna picked up small fragments of enemy rockets to prevent her dog from injuring its paws. She filled two bags with fragments and decided to incorporate them into her floral creations.

Anna has already held seven charity auctions of her jewelry, with all proceeds going to support a hospital.

Journalists can talk to Anna Gin in Kharkiv or online.

• culture
• women
• Kharkiv

On October 1, Kyiv will hold the annual “Surma” Military Music Festival, a cultural initiative started by the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in WW2 in 2023 under the recently restored Motherland monument, now featuring the Ukrainian Trident on its shield.

This year’s theme, “Song as a Weapon,” highlights the role of Ukrainian songs tied to the nation’s historic and ongoing fight for independence throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Solo performers and bands will gather under the towering monument to inspire unity among Ukrainians through music.

Due to security concerns, attendance at the festival will be restricted. However, with the help of media partner Suspilne Kultura, audiences will be able to watch the performances via broadcast.

Journalists are encouraged to attend and provide coverage of the event.

• culture
• Kyiv