Welcome to this edition of What about Ukraine?, a newsletter that helps you keep updated about what has been said recently about Ukraine in Ukraine, and in the international media.

Our newsletter turns one year old. The Europe Ukraine Desk’s editorial team has been monitoring the European press narrative about Ukraine every week, analysing not only the impact the full-scale invasion has on the European Union’s and individual countries’ politics, but also cultural ties between Ukraine and the rest of Europe. 

This is why, for our newsletter anniversary, we have prepared a special edition delving into Ukrainian culture after Russia’s full-scale invasion, showing how cinema, music, art photography and literature are stronger than destruction, although the cultural sector in Ukraine struggles to survive. The article of the week, translated by n-ost, gives the example of the Ukrainian film industry, which had to deal with censorship in Soviet times, then with financing problems during the transition to a market economy. Yet the industry’s chance to bloom in recent years has been brutally scuppered by Russian aggression. 

In the meantime, Ukrainian culture has spread further into the EU, building on the work of the active diaspora, and enlightening audiences unfamiliar with the nation's heritage and art. The Bulgarian minority in Ukraine connects the two countries: ancient cultural ties are being rediscovered. Sofia is now one of the twin locations for the Ethnographic Film Festival ‘Oko’, organised in parallel in Ukraine. In Hungary, culture does not follow the path of government policy, and strong links have been established through individual initiatives such as Off Kyiv Biennale. 

After the 2022 invasion, the Ukrainian community has played a central role in building cultural connections with Germany, Spain and Italy, arranging exhibitions, festivals and concerts. The Café Kyiv event in Berlin has promoted Ukrainian cuisine, art and design, as has the ‘Ukraine is Ukraine’ festival in Milan and the Ukraine-Spain Cultural Week.

Have a good read!

Marika Ikonomu
Editor of this week's edition

At the end of September, a Ukrainian sci-fi movie ‘U are the Universe’ directed by Pavlo Ostrikov received the Golden Octopus, the main award of the Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg. This is the director's first feature, and tells the story of a Ukrainian trucker and a French scientist trying to meet after an explosion destroys life on Earth. It took Ostrikov seven years to develop the film.

This case is a prime example of what Ukraine’s movie industry has been facing since 2022. In a piece, translated by n-ost this week, journalist Daria Bezruchenko talks to three Ukrainian film directors, asking them to summarise their experience of film-making during wartime, and to identify the main challenges.

During the Soviet period, films were censored by Moscow. In the 1990s and 2000s, the industry struggled to survive due to the lack of a viable domestic market and financing from the state. Only after 2011, did the industry receive a chance to bloom, as the Ukrainian State Film Agency was launched with a sustainable program of financial support. Russia’s full-scale invasion again interfered with the industry’s development. But despite the ongoing threats, a lack of financing and the active participation of movie makers in the war, Ukrainian movies manage to reach international film festivals and receive awards.

As Marysia Nikitiuk, screenwriter and director, explains:

"Ukrainian culture loses continuity. As soon as the Russian empire loosens its grip, flowers bloom. Then, they try to destroy us again and everything we’d acquired is lost without further transfer, and we create a new culture as if from scratch (although that’s not actually the case). While the Russians have been evolving everything since Ivan the Terrible’s time, our culture has been interrupted and forgotten. We either mimic or rebel."

This piece was dedicated to the Day of Ukrainian Cinema, celebrated in mid September and was originally published by media project The Ukrainians.

Translated by Natalia Volynets.

Bulgaria

Bulgarians of Ukraine: a cultural bridge

Bulgaria and Ukraine are both geographically and culturally close. Ukrainian and Bulgarian are both Slavic languages, have many words in common and use the Cyrillic alphabet. Many customs and traditions are similar on both sides of the Black Sea. Links between the two countries are further strengthened by the presence of a large Bulgarian minority in Ukrainian Bessarabia, numbering around 200,000. With the full-scale Russian invasion outbreak, these ancient cultural ties are now being rediscovered. 

The Ethnographic Film Festival ‘Oko’ (Eye), started in 2020 and held both in Bolhrad in Ukraine and in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, is increasingly vital and showcases debates and cultural events on top of the film competition, which screens dozens of films. Also in the cinema, new Bulgarian-Ukrainian co-productions tell the life of the Bulgarians of Ukraine: this is the case of ‘Krayat na rekata’ (The End of the River, 2024), a drama and love story directed by Vasil Barkov, which takes place in the Ukrainian part of ​​the Danube Delta.

In the meantime, more photographers are rediscovering the daily life of the Bulgarian community of Ukraine, such as Mihaela Aroyo from Varna. Since 2019, she has been visiting the villages and communities of Bessarabia to give life to a project that captures traditions and reveals everyday life ‘Dreaming in Bulgarian’.

Hungary

Cultural relations do not follow government policy

Ukraine organised its first stand at the September 2024 edition of the Budapest International Book Festival, an event firstly held in 1994. A foundation set up last year by the Ukrainian community in Hungary, UNABOOK, published a bilingual anthology of Ukrainian resistance poetry and one of the authors, Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska, attended the book launch. Yet another event made news at the book fair: two Russian authors who, as the Hungarian literary historian Zsuzsa Hetényi pointed out, supported Russian aggression against Ukraine, read at the festival.  

Although the relations between the leaders of Ukraine and Hungary are tense and the Hungarian government's policy on Ukraine has been much criticised, Ukrainian culture has been promoted by cultural actors and the press, even if there is no state support. In 2024, an enthusiastic curator felt she had a moral obligation to link Hungary with the Kyiv Biennale, which has become a world event since the Russian invasion, and is held in several European cities. She organised a three-day symbolic event, named Off Kyiv Biennale, in her own village. Works by Hungarian artists reflecting on the war were exhibited in collaboration with the local community.

The attention to Ukrainian culture did not start with the Russian full-scale invasion: Hungarian folk musicians have always been keen to listen and learn from the folk music of other countries, and even record it. The folk musician Miklós Both was awarded the European Citizen’s Prize of the European Parliament in 2022 for his recording of Ukrainian folk music, ‘The Polyphony Project’, which he has been working on with an international team since 2013, and has published his results online.

Germany 

Strong and varied links between Kyiv and Berlin

The cultural connections between Germany and Ukraine have flourished in recent years, with the Ukrainian flag proudly waving in the heart of Berlin on Museum Island every day since the full-scale invasion. A cornerstone of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy in Germany is the Ukrainian Institute launched in 2022, which is currently participating in the renowned Festival of Lights in Berlin. 

Starting on 4 October, 56 monumental mosaics from the 1960s and 70s will be displayed on the facades of the James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin. In Dresden, the Frauenkirche is showcasing the photo exhibition ‘Stronger than Bombs’, featuring 20 poignant images that depict the destruction of Ukrainian culture. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has organised two editions of the ‘Café Kyiv’ event in 2023 and 2024, creating a vibrant space for workshops and discussions and highlighting contemporary Ukrainian cuisine, art and design.

This year marks the fifth Ukrainian Film Festival in Berlin, a significant event dedicated to showcasing Ukrainian cinema. From 23 to 28 October, it will present a selection of thirteen contemporary documentaries and feature films, along with a short film competition and curated programs. Last but not least, 2023 saw the opening of new Ukrainian restaurants, Die mit den Kirschen (The One with Cherries) and Slava Berlin. Last year Kaffee Büro, a new Ukrainian café in the city centre, opened its doors to the guests and is planning to organise exhibitions soon.

Spain

Diaspora promotes culture, with music bringing community together

The Thyssen Museum in Madrid showcased ‘In the Eye of the Hurricane’ for six months, a one-of-a-kind art exhibition spotlighting the avant-garde movements of early 20th-century Ukraine. Borrowed from the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the collection captures the turbulent spirit of the era through the works of key figures like Oleksandr Bohomazov, Vasyl Yermilov, Viktor Palmov and Anatol Petrytski, among others.

With over 300,000 Ukrainians in Spain, two-thirds of them refugees, the Ukrainian community plays a vital role in sharing and promoting their culture. One of the largest initiatives is the Ukraine-Spain Cultural Week, launched in 2023, which features programs on cinema, literature and music. Last year, the documentary ‘The Everlasting Present - Ukraine: 30 Years of Independence’ was screened as part of the event. Other highlights along the Mediterranean coast included an art discussion with painter Daria Koltsova, a talk on architecture with artist Maria Kulikovska, and a conversation on Ukrainian literature in Spain with translator Tetyana Struk.

Music has been a powerful tool for the Ukrainian diaspora in Spain to share their culture and raise funds across various cities. On 18 September, the National Capella of Tenors and Bandurists of Ukraine performed in Bilbao, marking their third visit to Spain since the large-scale invasion began. This traditional ensemble has become a key cultural ambassador, using their performances to unite and support their community abroad.

Italy

DakhaBrakha, musical ambassadors stimulating enthusiasm for Ukrainian culture

Most Ukrainian cultural events in Italy are organised by the Ukrainian diaspora, who have an urgent need to show that their country is not just a war zone. According to Eurostat 2021 data, Italy was the EU member state which hosted the second highest numbers of Ukrainians before the Russian full-scale invasion. Over 20 percent were concentrated in Lombardy, with Milan as the regional capital. 

In Milan, the association Boristene organised the ‘Ukraine is Ukraine’ festival at the Philological Circle in May 2024, to show the country’s "cosmopolitan and complex identity", inviting Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak, art historian Kseniia Konstantynenko, artist Alissa Marchenko, pianist Marta Kuziy with a sample of the country’s music, author Yaryna Grusha and directors Ivan Kozlenko and Mstyslav Chernov. "Russians are striking our culture," explained Svitlana Tereshchenko, who organised the festival aiming to inform Italians about "a country that has always been close but we do not know about".

Aside from the Ukrainian local community’s events, in 2023 an important festival in Rome, ‘Romaeuropa Festival’, invited the DakhaBrakha folk music quartet to perform. They were not new to Italy, having played before the full-scale invasion in Milan and other smaller towns, especially in 2018. After February 2022 they continued their world wide tour and nowadays see themselves as ‘musical ambassadors’: "We hope that our efforts will further awaken people’s interest in our culture," they said in an interview.

The Europe-Ukraine Desk curated this newsletter. This week's edition has been composed by our team from all over Europe: Marika Ikonomu, Kornelia Kiss, Oksana Mamchenkova, Francesco Martino, Antonina Rybka and Fermin Torrano.
Michael Bird was our proofreader. 

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