We’ll win and restore everything
Author: Yevgen Samborsky / Instagram
Life that won’t happen
The acute phase of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began in 2014, has been going on for a month. From February 24, the chronology does not matter for Ukrainians. The number of victims is what’s counting here indeed. It is difficult to say the exact numbers: while we prepare the digest, they will change.
Among the dead are representatives of the cultural sphere. Let’s remember a few stories. Artem Datsyshyn, a soloist of the ballet troupe of the National Opera of Ukraine, was attacked on February 26 by the Russian troops, was seriously injured and died in the hospital. In early March during the battle with the Russian invaders in Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv a film and dubbing actor Pavlo Lee was killed. He served in the territorial defense of Ukraine. Another case is the death of Oksana Shvets, an actress of the Kyiv National Academic Molodyy Theater, while bombing of Ukrainian capital last week. Meanwhile, today, on March 23d, the director of the Kherson Regional Music and Drama Theater Oleksandr Knyha was abducted by Russian militaries and taken away in an unknown direction.
109 empty prams. An installation took place in Lviv on March 18. 109 empty prams placed on Rynok Square: 109 children died as a result of Russian invasion on the territory of Ukraine: shelling, rocket attacks, shooting of civilians. As of March 23, this number is 121 children. And it grows every day. A lot of children lost their parents. Currently dozens of injured children are being placed in Ukrainian hospitals.
Ukrainian manifesto stand at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
At this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair, one of the largest fairs in the book world, Ukraine will be represented with an empty manifesto stand. This way, the Ukrainian book community appeals to colleagues from other countries for support, in order to return to the Bologna Book Fair next year.
Free presence at one of the world’s largest book fairs was made possible thanks to the joint efforts of the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Ukrainian Institute, PEN Ukraine, the Book Arsenal and the BookForum International Festival.
As noted, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the Ukrainian Institute have agreed with the organizers fair on providing Ukraine with a free stand.
At the same time, the organizers refused to participate in Russia and called on the publishers-participants of the fair to bring children’s books translated from the Ukrainian language of the world to collect them as part of a joint exhibition. Another exhibition planned in the central part of the fair is a demonstration of 30-40 Ukrainian books.
Poets from UNESCO Cities of Literature read “So I’ll Talk About It”
On March 21 World celebrates Poetry Day. Every year UNESCO Cities of Literature worldwide take part in this celebration, organizing various events around the theme of poetry – manifests, poetry reading and different artistic actions.
Nine Cities of Literature have collaborated on a chain reading of the ‘So I’ll Talk About It’, by Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan: Edinburgh, Exeter, Granada, Heidelberg, Iowa City, Kuhmo, Manchester, Norwich, and Tartu. Poets from these cities have come together to celebrate the culture of Ukraine, and share a message of solidarity, hope and resilience. Poets from UNESCO Cities of Literature read “So I’ll Talk About It” by Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kin.
“Ukraine is a phoenix”: ReStart the country
Almost four weeks as Russian army cruely damaging Ukraine’s infrastructure. The amounted losses are quite difficult to be counted precisely and are still ongoing, but it is already up to hundreds of billions dollars. Photos of destroyed Ukrainian cities are affecting. Kharkiv, Mariupol, Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin, Chernihiv, Sumy… Ukrainians don’t know when the war will end, but they are confident and ready to rebuild their homes and their country. They think about future, about their future in Ukraine.
At this stage some experts in the fields of urban planning, architecture, and economics are already considering how to revive the life of Ukrainian cities when it becomes possible.
So, the Zvidsy Agency specializing in the development and implementation of sustainable urban and regional development projects, opens an additional forefront – ReStartUkraine initiative, a platform for the recovery strategy of Ukrainian cities and villages after the war with Russia (2014-2022).
This is an attempt to unite friends and colleagues from Ukraine and abroad to define frameworks, manuals, guidelines, and approaches to the interaction of stakeholders (ordinary citizens, military, business, city and community administrations, donor organizations, Ukrainian and foreign specialists) in the restoration of Ukrainian cities and communities. This platform will help various parties involved to be useful and coordinated in the rebuilding process.
The ReStart-initiative plans to:
– research and analyze national and international post-war recovery protocols and adapt them to use in Ukraine (as cases of the Second World War, the war in Syria, the Balkans, Afghanistan etc.)
– collect typologies of destroyed urban and rural objects and provide clear guidelines for their revitalization;
– audit available information on the destroyed objects in key damaged cities and work on post-war recovery strategies.
“Ukraine is a phoenix. We revive from the ashes even stronger than before. Our partners, colleagues, clients – you can support us in this job,” – wrote founder of the Zvidsy Agency Olexander Shevchenko.
To join the initiative: https://bit.ly/3tEVkDI.
Music for your home
CultureHeadquarters / Lviv
Cultural Strategy Institute
Lviv City of Literature
Hnat Khotkevych Palace Of Culture
