I just returned from a visit to Ukraine for artistic and cultural exchange. This initiative aims to foster partnerships, explore common values and ideas, and deepen the understanding of our shared cultural and historical heritage.
With 14 other artists from the EU, we visited several cultural organisations in Lviv and Kyiv to learn more about cultural life and how to build partnerships. In Lviv, we visited the Cultural Strategy Institute, The YA Gallery, the Shevchenkivskyi Hay open-air museum. In Kyiv, we met with the EU delegation, Creative Europe, House of Europe, and we visited the Khanenko museum, the Mystetskyi Arsenal's exhibition “Between Farewell and Return”. We also watched a Screening of the film “Gray Bees” by Dmytro Moiseiev at the Odesa International Film Festival. We finished with a roundtable with Ukrainian artists and cultural players at PEN Ukraine. The photos below are from the EU delegation's Instagram page: https://lnkd.in/eVga5Vyb

This was an interesting visit and opened up many perspectives and gave lots of inspiration. I think culture can be a weapon for good and it is positive that Ukraine and the EU support arts and culture.

This cultural exchange is part of the “Cultural Diplomacy: Ukraine — EU 2023-2024” project, funded and financed by the EU Delegation to Ukraine

I also had the chance to walk around myself a little bit and I explored Lviv and Kyiv. I am interested in ghost signs (faded signs of defunct shops that show a glimpse of the past) and modernist architecture, You can see some of those pictures on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuelvanransbeeck/