A meeting for Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Poland was held at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle. Diplomats representing 50 countries watched the film ‘Erase the Nation’, directed by Tomasz Grzywaczewski, and visited the exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’ presenting over two hundred works by Ukrainian artists in response to Russian aggression. The meeting was attended by Prof. Piotr Gliński, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, and Prof. Arkady Rzegocki, Head of the Foreign Service.
‘It is our moral duty to help Ukraine. Poland supports Ukraine by all available means, including internationally, and will support Ukraine for as long as it is necessary,’ said Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Piotr Glinski during the meeting with representatives of the diplomatic corps dedicated to the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The event, prepared by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, on the initiative of Vasyl Zwarycz, Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, was attended by diplomats representing 50 countries. Participants watched the film ‘Erase the Nation’, directed by Tomasz Grzywaczewski, and visited the exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’ presenting over two hundred works by Ukrainian artists in response to Russian aggression. Participants also received a report entitled “Preserving Ukraine’s Heritage”, which was produced together with the film as a summary of the activities carried out by the Polish Support Center for Culture in Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Glinski drew attention to the moving nature of the film Erase the Nation, directed by Tomasz Grzywaczewski, which documents the crimes committed against Ukraine’s cultural heritage. In the film, the Polish journalist showed destroyed Ukrainian archaeological monuments, contemporary libraries, museums, and schools, located in Lviv, Chernihiv, Ivankov, Kyiv, and Kharkiv, as far as Izium and Bohorodychy in eastern Ukraine. ‘We are appalled by the Russian Federation’s attack on our immediate neighbour Ukraine. All Poles are deeply moved and horrified by the human tragedies unfolding next to us. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have not only committed genocide against the Ukrainian people but also cultural crimes against Ukrainian national identity, trying to erase Ukrainian culture, history, and heritage,’ stressed Professor Piotr Glinski.
The head of the Ministry of Culture recalled that in Poland, it is the Polish Support Center for Culture in Ukraine, functioning within the structures of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, which coordinates domestic and foreign initiatives for the protection of Ukrainian cultural resources – in cooperation with numerous Polish cultural institutions, including museums, state archives or libraries. He stressed that the Center also conducts information and education activities about Ukrainian cultural heritage, including threats and losses caused by warfare.
In conclusion, the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage appealed to the meeting participants to never become indifferent to the crimes committed by the Russian invaders in Ukraine.
The Head of the Foreign Service, Arkady Rzegocki, who attended the meeting, admitted that was an extremely difficult task to depict the year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine which had inflicted dramatic losses on Ukraine’s infrastructure and cultural heritage. “Since the first days of the war, we have been supporting our neighbours in the cultural sphere by hosting Ukrainian artists, offering them the opportunity to work in their profession, and showcasing Ukrainian culture in Poland and abroad. The result of such activities is the exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’, pointed out Arkady Rzegocki
Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland Vasily Zwarych added that the exhibition, presented at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, is the largest exhibition of works by Ukrainian artists created after 24 February last year. “This exhibition is an expression of the struggle of our artists for a free Ukraine, for the freedom and sovereignty of our country. Through art, they show the truth about Russian barbarism and appeal to the world’s conscience to continue supporting Ukraine. I am proud of such artists and artists who have stood up to the aggressor in their art,” said Vasily Zwarycz. The Ambassador also thanked Poland for the help and support Ukraine receives both in Poland, in Ukraine, and internationally.
The meeting for the diplomatic corps is one of a series of events implemented as part of the cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Polish diplomatic missions around the world are organising events to promote the film ‘Erase the Nation” and the Report Preserving Ukraine’s Heritage; thanks to this cooperation, the film has already been translated into 9 languages, and more translations are in the pipeline.
‘Erase the Nation’ – a documentary by Tomasz Grzywaczewski
The film “Erase the Nation” depicts people saving monuments, archives, and cultural heritage – the heritage of their homeland – at all costs. It is a testimony of people who, despite the ongoing war, are trying to function and want to rebuild their country as soon as possible for themselves, their children, and future generations.
A Polish journalist Tomasz Grzywaczewski documented the destruction of Ukrainian monuments from Lviv, Chernihiv, Ivankiv, Kyiv, and Kharkiv to Izium and Bohorodychy in eastern Ukraine – crimes committed against secular and sacred cultural heritage, from archaeological monuments to modern libraries, museums, and schools. He also met with the guardians of these sites and conducted moving interviews, from which a shocking picture emerges of the struggle of barbaric invaders against Ukrainian identity.The documentary was commissioned by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage as part of the activities of the Polish Support Center for Culture in Ukraine and funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The film is available on the TV NID channel on YouTube https://youtu.be/KUgRbY1k1YI with subtitles in 10 languages (Polish, English, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian – Farsi, Romanian, Italian, and Japanese), more translations will be available soon.
The report “Preserving Ukraine’s Heritage”
The report entitled ‘Preserving Ukraine’s Heritage’ was produced as a summary of the activities carried out by the Polish Support Center in Ukraine. The report describes aid activities and aims to raise awareness of the threat posed by Russia’s strategy of deliberate and systematic destruction of Ukrainian culture. In Poland, the tragic consequences of such actions for the development of society and its identity are very well understood. In other countries, there is often a lack of knowledge that the war in Ukraine is, first and foremost, a struggle to defend common European values and culture against Russian barbarism. The examples of destruction described in the report, which include valuable architectural sites, religious culture, archaeological sites, and intangible heritage, are intended to show and convince foreign audiences that the nature of the actions carried out by the Russian military fulfills the criteria of war crimes.
The report was produced in English and is one of the first studies to comprehensively address the issue of cultural heritage destruction and to point to the need for the international community to take action to protect culture more effectively during armed conflict.
The report is also available in an online version on the websites of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Polish Support Center for Culture in Ukraine: https://ukraina.nid.pl/raport-zachowac-dziedzictwo-ukrainy-sprawozdanie-z-dzialalnosci-centrum-pomocy-dla-kultury-na-ukrainie/.
The exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’
The exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’ is a response to the social and moral need to show the Ukrainian people’s struggle for freedom through art and documentation. The artworks gathered therein were created in recent months as a reaction of artists to Russian aggression. The art documents the bestiality of the Russian invaders and appeals to the conscience of the world.
The exhibition presents more than two hundred works by 32 representatives of Ukraine’s artistic community. It was held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland is an honorary partner of the exhibition.
The exhibition ‘Ukraine. Under a Different Sky’ at the Centre for Contemporary Art – Ujazdowski Castle can be seen until 14 May 2023.
More about the exhibition: https://u-jazdowski.pl/program/wystawy/ukraina-pod-innym-niebem