n March 22, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko and his Deputies: Galyna Grygorenko, Anastasia Bondar and Taras Shevchenko held an online meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Lucy Frazer. The meeting was devoted to particular organizational cases related to the support of Ukrainian culture, creative industries, media, preservation of Ukrainian cultural heritage during wartime.
The Ukraine’s Minister expressed gratitude to the British people for their support and help in organizing the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the UK/Ukraine Cultural Season, which is already coming to an end. Events within the Season have provided the wonderful opportunity to promote the culture of the two countries and strengthen friendly relations between Ukraine and Great Britain.
“We hope to strengthen cooperation with Great Britain in the following priority areas, such as protection, preservation and restoration of Ukrainian cultural heritage, digitalization of this sphere. This is our priority – maximum automation of all processes. We count on the support for cultural institutions, artists, creative industries, and Ukrainian media. We are also deeply convinced that by joint efforts we will be able to counter russian propaganda even more effectively,” Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, said.
Regarding cooperation in the field of protection, preservation and restoration of damaged immovable cultural heritage, the MCIP suggested the British side to consider the issues related to assistance in conservation and emergency work on damaged or destroyed objects, as well as to strengthen contacts between relevant institutions of Ukraine and Great Britain. It was also about training of Ukrainian specialists in Great Britain, exchange of experience on issues of digitalization in the field of culture and cultural heritage, support in countering illegal movement of cultural property stolen from the territory of Ukraine by the russian occupying forces, presentation of museum collections of Ukraine with the aim of widely familiarizing the foreign audience with the history and art of Ukraine.
The parties coordinated organizational details of joint events. Among them: London Book Fair (April 18-20, 2023), Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 (June 21-22, 2023), London Fashion Week (September 15-19, 2023), Ukraine Recovery Conference, Networking Events in the framework of the Eurovision Song Contest and other events. In addition, the MCIP invited partners from Great Britain to participate in the annual International Forum “Creative Ukraine” in November 2023, and also offered to continue the project, which is being implemented under the patronage of the wife of the President of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, regarding the opening of Ukrainian-language audio guides in British museums.
Oleksandr Tkachenko emphasized during the conversation: “It is very important to support our artists and representatives of creative industries in Ukraine, who continue to create despite the war. This can be done through the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, Ukrainian Book Institute, grants, etc.”
In the field of media, audiovisual sector and information policy, the MCIP suggested to strengthen cooperation in the following areas: promotion of the TV channel “FREEDOM” in Great Britain, countering russian disinformation and propaganda by disseminating information about events in Ukraine on public broadcasting platforms of the British Broadcasting Company Ltd (BBC); introduction of sanctions; providing support to the Ukrainian media; provision of special equipment for television broadcasting in Ukraine destroyed by the russian federation; conducting “Information Ramstein” with the following directions: sanctions against russian propaganda mouthpieces, criminalization of the spread of disinformation, support for Ukrainian media inside the country and in the world. But the main thing is joint coordinated actions of the entire democratic world against russian information weapons.
