About us

About Ukraine Culture Network

The Ukraine Culture Network was created as a result of the Conference “Renaissance of Arts and Culture in Ukraine” held in Bern, Switzerland, on April 26 and 27, 2023. Its Coordination Office operates under the umbrella of the Swiss nonprofit association LEGATO Bern-Odesa.

The Ukraine Culture Network pursues the following goals:

  • Contributing to the protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage in Ukraine and abroad;
  • Raising the international visibility of and awareness for Ukrainian culture, which to date is not sufficiently known;
  • Promoting Ukrainian artists and art abroad and contributing to a more effective market access for Ukrainian artists in Ukraine’s partner countries;
  • Adding support to the development of Ukraine’s educational system

The Ukraine Culture Network intends to operate as a platform aimed at facilitating the connection of Ukrainian artists with cultural institutions, curators, event organizers and sponsors. The main added value and function of the Network is to enable and promote networking opportunities for relevant actors in the field of art and education with a view to implementing projects and initiatives that can be shaped in a broad variety of support formats, such as co-productions, (co-)funding, inclusion of Ukrainian artists into productions, exhibitions and concerts, granting of artist-in-residence positions, “temporary” exile for Ukrainian artists and artifacts, partnerships and exchange of best practices between educational institutions in Ukraine and in partner countries etc.

In its activities, the Ukraine Culture Network is guided by the following principles and values as resulting from the Conclusions of the Conference:

  • We recognize the paramount role of culture, as the “backbone of society”, for national identity and cohesion, resilience, recovery, development and prosperity of Ukraine, as well as for its recognition abroad;
  • We recognize the urgent need for protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage and the need of Ukrainian cultural and educational actors for the supply of practical equipment and funding from official and private sources in partner countries as well as for long-term cooperation with counterparts in partner countries;
  • We support the priority of Ukrainian policy makers to integrate Ukraine into the European cultural and educational space;
  • We recommend Ukrainian decision makers in the area of culture and education to “build back better” after the war, by combining recovery and reconstruction with reforms;
  • We encourage a participatory approach towards formulating strategies in the area of culture and education, involving stakeholders from local government, cultural and educational institutions, academia, civil society and others.

Team

Werner Schmitt, co-founder and board member of UCN

Christian Schoenenberger, co-founder and board member of UCN

Vladimir Yefimov, coordinator and board member of UCN

Anna Kuznetsova, member of the core team of UCN

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