Resistance to war through culture: UCF took part in the International Symposium "Why Culture Matters?"

Why culture matters and why is it so important in wartime? These issues were discussed over three days during the international symposium "Why culture matters?" that was held between the 6th and 8th of October, 2022 in Timișoara, Romania.

The International Symposium "Why Culture Matters?" is a PRIN BANAT Association initiative, based in Timișoara, as a joint activity between the projects implemented by the association - The Ambulance for Monuments - Banat, Centriphery & Moving Fireplaces - and is part of “A Week For Monuments” program.

Iryna OSADCHA, deputy executive director of the UCF for organizational development, and Nataliia KERNYTSKA, manager of international cooperation, joined the discussion panel "Focus Ukraine and its cultural front".

During the presentation of the UCF's activities, the Foundation's team emphasized the importance of supporting Ukrainian culture and artists who remained in Ukraine. Separately, during their speech, they presented some projects that were started during the war: the information digest "Chronicles of the Cultural Front", the interactive "Map of Cultural Losses", the art platform "Art of Victory", the platform "Cultural Space" and the partner fundraising project "Help to save Ukrainian culture now!"

"Today, one of the missions of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation is to inform the international community about the Ukrainian struggle against russian aggression. We want Ukraine still to remain on the agenda and by all possible means draw attention to the war for independence and democracy in the center of Europe in the twenty-first century, in the conditions of which it is extremely important to maintain the cultural front", – mentioned Iryna OSADCHA, Deputy Executive Director of the UCF.

"The most impressive was information about the Grand Capital of Culture in Ukraine - Mariupol. Slides of the city "before and after" could not leave anyone in the hall without emotion. The russians believe that they occupied or captured Mariupol, but in fact they destroyed it and turned it into a hell", – said Nataliia KERNYTSKA, manager of international cooperation of the UCF.

Participants of the discussion panel "Focus Ukraine and its cultural front":

Iryna OSADCHA, Nataliia KERNYTSKA from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation;

Anstasiia PRYMACHENKO, Nataliya GNATIUK from Maria Prymachenko Family Foundation;

Flavius ILLIONI-LOGA, Anabella COSTACHE from LOGS;

Moderator: Teodora Borghoff, member of the curatorial team of Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture.

Thanks to Alexandra Palconi-Sitov and PRIN BANAT for invitation.

Photos: Andrei Infinit.