On December 7, the VI Forum “Creative Ukraine: The Power of Resilience” 2022 began. This year, the focus of the forum is the role of creative industries in the liberation war of Ukraine and their contribution to victory.
You can watch the live broadcast in Ukrainian, English. All details about the forum are here.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are doing everything to bring our final victory closer in the aggressive war started by russia against Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainian creative industries formed their front. They help form narratives of the Ukrainian nation, and also lay the groundwork for building a new, strong Ukraine.
It is the creative industries that create the biggest added value. In 2020, it was 4.5% of GDP. Forecasts for this year were even more optimistic. But because of the war, the creative industries didn’t get more than $15 billion this year. Decline in declared income – more than 63%, 20% of employees are abroad.
“I constantly tell my colleagues in the West, if you want to support creative industries, develop collaborations, support Ukrainian culture, support them here in Ukraine. It is extremely important for us to keep and support the talents and opportunities that we have in Ukraine despite everything,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
During two days, creative entrepreneurs, artists, journalists, government officials from Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland, deputies, experts, as well as all concerned will discuss not only the importance of creative industries in the war, but also the prospects for the nearest future and ways to overcome challenges.
“Nowadays, everything Ukrainian is under the watchful eye of the world. And if at the beginning of the war we still thought about whether concerts and cultural events were appropriate now, we soon realized that they are mandatory. They show who we are, what we protect, what we fight for. It was also important for us to show that Ukrainian culture is part of the world. So if we lose, the whole world will lose too. In addition, it seems to me that Ukrainians themselves now look at their culture differently. They are finally cured of their inferiority complex in relation to russia,” said First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.
The forum began with an inspiring performance by Sviatoslav Vakarchuk. He sang “Hug Me”. This song was often heard in the first days of the war. Today, it continues to inspire Ukrainian soldiers and all Ukrainians.
“It is snowing, there is no electricity, there is no communication supplies, but there is great optimism in the souls of Ukrainians. Victory is not just ours, it will come much sooner than we imagine. This is due to the Ukrainian people, soul, Ukrainian spirit and resistance, but also Ukrainian ingenuity and creativity, which we are talking about today,” said the leader of the band “Okean Elzy”.
According to Matti Maasikas, Ambassador of the European Union, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the war primarily imposes restrictions.
“Everything became black and white, people became different. Ukraine is not russia. Ukrainian culture has declared itself, it is becoming universal. The word “Palianytsia” distinguishes us from them. Ukrainian culture declares itself to be prosperous and flourishing. Culture contributes to a country’s resilience. Gives it an opportunity to become a better vision of itself. Forum “Creative Ukraine”. The key word is “creative”. Because creativity helps rebuild infrastructure, destroyed or damaged objects. We continue to work for the Ukrainian cultural sector,” he said.
In the first module of the forum “Partners of development of culture and creative industries of Ukraine”, the partners – participants of the first module- addressed the participants of the event with words of support. Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, moderated this conversation.
Among the participants: Piotr Glinski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland; Simonas Kairys, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania; Nicholas Thomas, British Council Country Director; Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
The Moderator of the second Module “Creative industries. A Plan for the Country’s Recovery” — Halyna Hryhorenko, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
Key speakers: Yevheniya Kravchuk, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Humanitarian and Information Policy; Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine; Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Secretary of the National Council for the Reconstruction of the Country; Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
It should be reminded that the International Forum “Creative Ukraine” is the largest platform in Eastern Europe for discussing state policy in the field of culture and creative industries. Every year, the event gathers dozens of speakers from many countries around the world to discuss the challenges and development paths for the creative industries.The Forum is organized and chaired by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
The partners of this year’s forum are the British Council in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute, the Ukrainian Book Institute, Ukrainian Fashion Week, Design4Ukraine, the Creative Industries Development Office at MCIP, etc.
