On March 20, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko and his Deputies: Anastasia Bondar and Taras Shevchenko had an online meeting with the Minister of Culture and Equality of the Kingdom of Norway Anetta Trettebergstuen. The parties discussed cooperation in the spheres of culture, cultural heritage and media.
“We are grateful for the solidarity of Norwegians with Ukraine, in particular, for the support of Ukrainian culture. After all, russians are fighting precisely against our identity, they are destroying everything Ukrainian. russians have already destroyed more than 1,322 cultural objects. The Ministry is ready to serve a bridge for establishing cooperation between Ukrainian and Norwegian cultural institutions. We also appreciate the attention of the Norwegian side to the recognition of the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people and hope for a positive resolution of this issue already this week,” Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, said.
The draft law on recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide was presented to the Norwegian Parliament on February 8, 2023. It is planned to be considered on March 21.
The MCIP is looking forward to cooperation with Norway in the following priority areas: digitalization of culture; protection, preservation and restoration of cultural heritage; supporting the activities of Ukrainian cultural institutions, artists and creative industries in Ukraine; media support and joint fight against russian propaganda. In addition, the Ukrainian side is interested in cultural exchanges and a broad presentation of Ukrainian culture in the Kingdom of Norway and across the world.
“It is extremely important to support our artists who, despite the war, remained to live and create in Ukraine. Among the tools: assistance to the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, the Ukrainian Institute of Books, grants” Oleksandr Tkachenko said.
In the context of supporting Ukrainian culture, attention needs to be paid to projects related to: replenishment of library funds in Norway with modern Ukrainian literature, transfer of Ukrainian-language and translated Ukrainian literature to libraries of foreign countries within the framework of the “Ukrainian Bookshelf” project. This is a joint project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ukrainian Book Institute under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zelenska. Continuation of the project to introduce Ukrainian-language audio guides in Norwegian museums. This project is also implemented under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zelenska.
Among the participants of the meeting: representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Equality of the Kingdom of Norway and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Norway, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
A reminder that in November last year, the Norwegian Museum of History opened exhibitions dedicated to the historical ties between Kyivan Rus and the ancient Kingdom of Norway. The events were dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Norway. Norwegian politicians, experts, diplomats took part in the official opening ceremony.
