Repin, Dovzhenko: What else will Ukraine show France in the biggest cultural season in history
The Ukrainian Season, according to the organizers, will be the largest-scale cultural project between Ukraine and France since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The program includes over 30 literary, theatrical, musical, artistic, and film events, as well as professional exchanges, academic events, and discussions on civil society, human rights, war crimes, preservation of memory and cultural heritage, mental health, media, and disinformation.
The events will take place in Paris, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes, Strasbourg and Lyon, with a particular focus on partnerships between twin cities.
Key events:
Paris — a four-day forum at the Concord Theatre on human rights and Russian war crimes, with the participation of Maksym Butkevych, Oleksandra Matviichuk, and Stanislav Asyeyev.
Lille — The Palace of Fine Arts will present Ilya Repin's painting "The Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan" from the Kharkiv Art Museum, and will also organize a discussion on Russian appropriation of Ukrainian culture and the historical context of the work. The Lille Opera House will host a concert by Kharkiv pianists with the Lille orchestra.
Paris — The French Cinematheque will present a retrospective of 13 films by Oleksandr Dovzhenko and discuss his journey from a representative of Ukrainian bohemia to a mouthpiece of Soviet propaganda.
The season is organized by the French Institute and the Ukrainian Institute under the patronage of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and with the support of the Ministries of Culture of both countries.
"Ukraine has already held cultural seasons in Austria in 2019 and in Great Britain in 2022–2023. This third attempt carries extremely important messages. We want to show that culture for Ukraine is not entertainment or luxury, but the core of our resistance," noted Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General of the Ukrainian Institute. "We will speak through the voices of cultural figures in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteers, and human rights defenders."
"The French public wants to learn more about Ukraine," emphasized Eva Nguyen Binh, president of the French Institute. "We can't encourage travel there right now, so we're offering a virtual journey – through the creativity and resilience of Ukrainians, which is admired worldwide."
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