KYIV – Ukrainians marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lesia Ukrainka with a variety of cultural events and celebrations, including a new opera and an interactive exhibition that highlighted the renown literary figure’s work as a feminist, human rights activist, playwright and ethnographer.
The campaign dedicated to the milestone anniversary of Ukrainka’s birth was coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the State Agency of Ukraine for Arts and Art Education, together with the Ukrainian House and Postmen Agency, a digital branding and public relations agency based in Ukraine.
“Even though the 150th anniversary is in February, we are doing everything to make [Ukrainka’s] image blossom, as in spring,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
“I am glad that this year Lesia Ukrainka’s birthday is an event not only for scientists, writers, or philologists,” Mr. Tkachenko said. “Thanks to new technologies and creativity, we managed to attract Ukrainians to digital exhibits. We consciously paid attention to having events for people both offline and online.”
The epicenter for the celebrations commemorating Ukrainka’s birth took place at the Ukrainian House in European Square. The commemoration included an interactive exhibition that Mr. Tkachenko said would serve as a venue where Ukrainians could delve more deeply into the poet’s work and legacy.
“I want the anniversary to be a reason for everyone to immerse themselves in the world of Lesia Ukrainka,” Mr. Tkachenko said. “Ukrainians can reread her works and learn more about her biography because Larysa Kosach is not just an outstanding woman of that time, but she is one of those figures who played a key role not only in literature but also in the history and formation of Ukrainian identity.”
The commemorations here included a large-scale art project titled “Lesia Ukrainka: 150 names.” The project sought to demonstrate the depth and complexity of Ukrainka’s life by showcasing all of the people, places, characters and struggles in the writer’s life.
“She never smiled in pictures,” said Pavlo Hudimov, the exhibition’s curator, as he showed members of the press rare photographs of Ukrainka.
The “Lesia Ukrainka: 150 Names” project also included the release of a new, 14-volume collection of Ukrainka’s literary work. A previous 12-volume edition was censored by Soviet authorities. The new collection includes manuscripts written by Ukrainka which provide insight into the author’s creative process.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, visited the exhibition to look over the complete collection of Ukrainka’s works. “This is an exciting and cool project,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “Lesia Ukrainka is a vivid, unique personality with a progressive worldview for her generation and she remains relevant today. I think that everyone who visits this exhibition will have a chance to look at the genius of Lesia Ukrainka, whom they know from school, and they will see a new, unusual perspective and become even more interested in her work.”
The opening of the project “Lesia Ukrainka: 150 Names” also featured the premiere of the opera “LE” directed by Vlad Troitsky and performed by Kyiv’s Nova Opera.
“When I came up with the story, I had the task of modernizing, not simplifying the figure of Lesia,” Mr. Troitsky said. “I wanted to show other facets behind the clichéd image [of Ukrainka]. After all, most people know about her only in a general context – she wrote poems. But not everyone realizes her powerful educational component, that Lesia was an extremely educated person, an intellectual.”