pine20230503

[dontforgetukraine]

"I have been living through this since 2014 and I am deeply touched by this whole war, which has left me with many scars: I have lost many friends; I have seen friends maimed; I have seen what happens to cities when they fall under Russian occupation. I know that, just as they have deprived Ukrainians in the occupied territories of their freedom, the same will happen to us. To make a long story short, I do not want to be Russian. I want to have freedom, I want to have self-determination—to be able to believe and say what I want, and not to be drafted into an invading force marching on Warsaw or anywhere else. I want to be able to live a normal and free life, to defend my freedom and the freedom of those who cannot defend themselves."

—Dmytro Zhluktenko, founder of Dzyga’s Paw Fund. He is now enlisted in the Ukrainian Army.

Source: “I do not want to be Russian; I want to have freedom”: An Interview with Dmytro Zhluktenko

[courtana]

📌 Mutual Aid, Fundraisers, and Actions

a white heart "🤍" denotes GFM campaigns who have reached out to me via in my inbox

I will be updating this as frequently as possible with new information, campaigns, and forms of supporting displaced and vulnerable folks in Palestine, Sudan, DRC, Ukraine, and elsewhere.

Vetted GFM Campaigns 🤝

🤍 Donate to Khader and Ragheb - [€708 raised of €55,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Amira - [€5,118 raised of €20,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Fadi Ayyad - [$9,530 raised of $35,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Hani Al-Sharif [$445 raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Mohammed Alanqer [€18,196 raised of €38,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ahmed Alanqer [€16,338 raised of €35,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Kareem and Carmen [$6,971 raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Walaa & her family [$3,405CAD raised of $50,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to the Shamaly family [$23,910CAD raised of $90,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Basel Ayyad [CHF1,828 raised of CHF60,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ashraf Alanqar [€1,463 raised of €30,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Musab [€705 raised of €7,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Ahmed and his family [£5,253 raised of £30,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Alaa and her children [€2,995 raised of €20,000 goal]

🤍 Donate to Dr. Mohammed Aldeeb [€23,929 raised of his €30,000 goal]

Palestine 🇵🇸

Donate to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society - humanitarian org serving the health and welfare of the Palestinian people

Donate an eSIM for Gaza - helps Palestinians to connect to the outside world

Donate to Gaza Direct Aid - small volunteer-run program funding humanitarian aid in Gaza

Donate to Care for Gaza - supporting displaced families in Gaza

Donate to GazaFunds - find a struggling fundraiser to support

Sudan 🇸🇩

Donate to the Sudanese American Physicians Association - provides critical medical aid, food, and water

Donate to Sudan Solidarity Collective - provides direct financial assistance to civilian-led groups

Sudan Diaspora Network's Sudan Benefit Fundraiser - supports displaced Sudanese by providing medical equipment and food

Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khartoum Kitchen appeal - feeds the hungry, up to 1,250 people daily, in the greater Khartoum area

Help Sudan- Sudan Relief Fund - helps people on the ground with immediate needs such as food, water, shelter and medication

Congo 🇨🇩

Donate to Focus Congo - partnerships with local grassroots organizations and access to resources necessary for survival

Support Friends of the Congo & the Basandja Coalition - provides food, delivers reporting, rescues children from the cobalt mines and supports diggers and miners demanding accountability, combats sexual violence and provides care for women’s health

Action Kivu - dedicated to repairing the harm done by years of violence and neglect in this region with focus on women and children.

Mutual Aim team fundraiser for Congo, Sudan, and Tigray - campaign collecting money that will be will be divided between the DRC, Sudan, and Tigray

Ukraine 🇺🇦

United 24 – main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine

Come Back Alive – provides support to service members in Ukraine

Prytula foundation – provides support to Ukrainian Defense Forces and affected civilians

Dzyga’s Paw – provides Ukrainian Defenders with high-tech equipment

[silverfox66]

I highly suggest reading Zelenskyy's whole thread, but I want to highlight this one. The year 2024 demands our response from everyone, not just politicians. There is so much we all can do to help Ukraine: donate, make/sign/share petitions (for example: the petition we handed over some days ago), fight misinformation, contact your representatives, share news about Ukraine to spread awareness. February 24 will mark two years of the full russian invasion, look for protests in support of Ukraine in your area, let your voice be heard. We must act now.

Donations:

- U24

- Come Back Alive

- Prytula foundation

- Dzyga’s Paw

Petition:

- Make russia pay

USA:

- Contact your representatives.

Protests:

- Interactive map of global actions

[wistfulpoltergeist]

Sorry, guys! I've got too emotional and posted the ask about Gaza without looking into it closely! I was reported about it being a scam. I felt it was weird to ask a certain amount of money but couldn't force myself to ignore the message. I don't know any actual working rescuing centers for Gaza. Many links are going back and forth by the internet, and I can't tell if they're safe. Cos I'm not in the area to tell if it actually works. But here someone made a Palestine Masterlist with lots of information about the country, culture, donations and help.

From myself I can only tell what I know about Ukraine. If you want to help and donate to Ukraine, please choose organizations that are from Ukraine and work in Ukraine. Such as:

United 24: General fundraising Come Back Alive: Specific projects Prytula foundation: Specific projects Dzyga’s Paw: General fundraising (animal themed 🐶) Hospitallers: Volunteer organization of paramedics who work directly on the front line. Kolo: Targeted campaigns and subscription.

I know they're working, cos I see the result. Thank you for your support!

[cyberbenb]

Oksana Lutsyshyna: Every wave is for you

Now it seems to me like I always knew Vika Amelina. This past week has been hellish – a mix of anticipation, knowing, and the impossibility of reconciling with this knowledge. How can I imagine life without her now? Where do I even begin?

We met in 2014 in New York at a poetry reading organized by the Shevchenko Scientific Society. It is notable that later Vika would organize a literary festival at the town with the same name, but located in Ukraine, in Donetsk Oblast, not on the shore of the Hudson River. Ukraine has its own New York, a town once founded by the Mennonite community, a town that was dear to Victoria’s heart.

At that time, we didn’t have a chance to have a real conversation because the company was large and, despite the tragic historical circumstances and the outbreak of the war in eastern Ukraine, everyone in the group was happily noisy. Victoria gave me a signed copy of her novel “The Fall Syndrome.”  

By that time, I had already heard about her from colleagues and friends, especially from Marianna Kijanowska, who was the first to say that Amelina’s prose was a unique phenomenon in our literature and that it was a must-read.

Vika always had a lot of questions, and they were about everything in the world: specific books, literature, the quality of what is written and unwritten, motivations for actions; about things small and big.

How a celebrated Ukrainian writer turned into a war crimes researcher

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Ukrainians into action, compelling them to figure out how they can contribute to their country’s victory. Oftentimes, it has called for a radical departure from the known comforts of their daily lives. That’s exactly what happened to Ukrainian…

The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan

In 2016, when I arrived in Lviv, Vika was already a completely different person, no longer the delicate girl who cautiously, as though entering cold water, stepped into the still unfamiliar world of literary gatherings. By then, she was already finishing her second novel, “Dom’s Dream Kingdom."

Perhaps it was a bit of a sad year for her, because writing, no matter how much she loved the process (and the result), seemed not to have brought her what she hoped for. It didn’t ease her pain for Ukraine, for the East, for the children in the East. Ultimately, she was always interested in something beyond literature.

In a photo that I, unfortunately, can no longer find, we are leaving the legendary cultural hub Dzyga in Lviv – the Polish novelist Zanna Sloniowska, the poet and publisher Marjana Savka, Victoria, and me – but Victoria’s face is sad. It’s as if she’s looking into space at something visible only to her.

By then, it was already a close friendship and, like all close friendships, unlike anything else but itself. It’s impossible to describe or retell these things, all of those midnight conversations, musings, and funny nicknames we gave each other.

There were times when we laughed uncontrollably, and there were times when we cried – sometimes in person, and more often to each other through the phone. We wrote to each other, “Talk to me, I feel really bad,” without shame or hiding the pain.

If you were to read this drawn-out, years-long correspondence, you might get the impression that we mostly talked about pain. But then, maybe a friend is the least reliable narrator in the world, to use literary terms. Vika, however, didn’t speak in literary terms. She often poked fun at herself, reminding you that she didn’t study literature at university.

Oksana Lutsyshyna and Victoria Amelina. (Courtesy of Oksana Lutsyshyna)

I told her every time that there’s no point in imagining literature as some kind of examination session in an ivory tower or, if we go by Fowles, an ebony tower. On the contrary, it’s much more interesting and valuable when people with different backgrounds, and not just “philological” ones, come to literature. After all, I am now writing a story of friendship, not of literature… I think Victoria would have liked it better.

In 2019-2020, Victoria’s family – she, her son, and her husband – lived in Boston, in the Brookline area, relatively close to Harvard. I visited several times, once for the publication of my poetry collection in English translation by Boston-based publisher Arrowsmith Press, whose editor-in-chief is the writer Askold Melnyczuk.

It seemed like Victoria was even more excited about the publication than I was, dragging me out in the snowy Cambridge evening to someplace with oysters and wine, and insisting that I, who finds it difficult to be in the spotlight even with my own iPhone camera, take a photo with the book. “Come on, it’s your book. It needs to be celebrated and documented for history. It’s very important,” she said.

During that time, Victoria was studying at Harvard for a while, taking creative writing courses. She wrote in English. Her fellow students, teachers, and new friends, like Askold, loved her. Everyone predicted a great literary future for her, even in this foreign – or rather almost her own (since Victoria had lived in Canada for some time with her father) – language.

But she didn’t feel good in that big, cold city, the definitive cradle of poets, one of the main cities on the cultural map of the United States. She was always driven and tormented by something – she suffered without Ukraine, without the East. In fact, her attempts to write prose in English were about Ukraine, the East, and the war.

This Week in Ukraine Ep. 15 – Why culture matters during war

Episode #15 of our weekly video podcast “This Week in Ukraine” is dedicated to Ukrainian culture, the important role it plays in war, and why it has been a target of Russian dictators for decades. Host Anastasiia Lapatina is joined by the Kyiv Independent’s culture reporter Kate Tsurkan. Listen to

The Kyiv IndependentAnastasiia Lapatina

When the pandemic started in 2020, our planned joint reading at the Shevchenko Scientific Society had to be canceled. We had been looking forward to spending time together, at least for a few days in New York (although not the one she loved so much).

After Feb. 24, 2022, the internal calendars of Ukrainians changed forever, and the pandemic simply disappeared, drowned like Atlantis in a sea of new pain. But back then, in the spring of that year, the pandemic was terrifying.

It seemed like we had all become characters in some fantasy, and an army of darkness was closing in on us. The news published daily numbers of how many people died and how many got sick in the States. Victoria would go for walks every evening along the Charles River and call me, and we would talk endlessly.

In the summer, I had to urgently find another place to live after going through a breakup, and I was surrounded by a desert in every sense: The pandemic had disrupted the delicate mechanisms of friendly relationships, Ukraine was far away, and I don’t know what would have happened to me then if it weren’t for Vika. When I went to look at apartments, she would also look at them with me through video chat, listen to my hesitations, and give advice.

And then she returned to Ukraine. We continued to talk, though less frequently. She had the New York Festival in Donetsk Oblast to attend to, and she immediately invited me (virtually, as I couldn’t travel), there were articles and essays, and she threw herself into work; she was in her element.

As our fellow poet Julia Musakovska once pointed out, Vika herself was an elemental force. She always wanted her friends to be as fully involved in her life as possible and, I confess, due to my own work, I couldn’t keep up with her, lagging behind, not finishing reading something, or not recording a video she asked for. And she would apologize for overwhelming me and said only that she wanted me to be a part of her life, to know what she was currently living through.

Victoria Amelina, Ukrainian novelist, essayist, and human rights activist, speaking at a public discussion during the 29th Lviv Book Forum on October 9, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. (Photo by Les Kasyanov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Since February 2022, she did everything she could for her country: she hosted refugees, wrote, made calls, promoted important information, and gathered evidence of war crimes.

She searched for the buried diary of the tortured Volodymyr Vakulenko, the poet and children’s writer. She told me about the families she had taken in from the occupied territories, writing about them as though they were her own kin: “They are now my family, and they live with me.”

We finally reunited in December 2022, in Krakow, where Vika had come to see her son. I was heading to Ukraine – just for a week and a half, to see my loved ones.

We met in the old city center and embraced as Krakow shone with Christmas lights. I was struck by how much Vika had changed: her hugs, always gentle, had become stronger, and her own strength radiated around her like an ocean around an island.

We spent several hours together, talking: She told me about the human rights organization Truth Hounds with which she was now involved, and I shared my dreams with her, where I found myself in an occupied city, with fires burning, and at the last moment, I was saved by some unknown train. I walked with it, not knowing whose it was, ours or theirs. I heard the Ukrainian language, exhaled, and woke up.

“Oh, poor you,” Vika said. “That’s quite a secondary trauma you have there.” And she asked, “May I hug you? I ask everyone now since I started working with people who have experienced violence."

Writer Victoria Amelina dies following Kramatorsk strike

The writers’ association PEN Ukraine said in a statement that Ukrainian writer and war crimes researcher Victoria Amelina died on July 1 after she was critically injured in a Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

… What did she write about? I read many of her texts, both published and unpublished, and they were so different. She started writing poems and was shy about them, occasionally sending me one or two with an ironic comment as if it were a moment of indulgence in writing.

As for her prose, I once said that it was a prose of nuance – not just details that, contrary to popular belief, could still be invented, but actual nuances, emotional, historical, and those pertaining to the plot.

“Dom’s Dream Kingdom,” in particular, captivated me with the discovery of the storytelling dog. Without this, the story would have been tragic, but thanks to this endearing narrator, it became balanced. It was a story that made room for love, not just sorrow. For me, this setting of the novel, this special tone, placed it not only in the context of Ukrainian but also in world literature.

It was a narrative that was not confined to suffering without an exit. Vika wrote not only about how people suffered but also about how they loved (not unlike Imre Kertész, who once said that in his writings he meant to show love in Auschwitz, not just the horror). And furthermore, she loved all her characters equally, making it impossible to guess whom she felt closer to or with whom she associated herself. She maintained balance even in this aspect, her love encompassing everyone, even in these realms.

The coffin of Victoria Amelina, a renowned Ukrainian writer, draped in the Ukrainian flag, at her funeral ceremony in Lviv, Ukraine, on July 5, 2023. She died on July 1, 2023, after she was critically injured in a Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast. (Photo by Olena Znak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

I am finishing this text, this pain for Vika, while outside my window, fireworks are bursting like the cannonade of a new day: Tomorrow is a holiday in the United States, Independence Day. It feels like the sound of war, like the worst of all triggers, the most painful of all reminders.

I pull up my old notes, and social media posts, searching for something, something that I may have forgotten that needs to be said about Vika. I come across some photos that we sent to each other, and I see her gentle face, her beloved black dresses of which she had a whole collection, and I almost scream from the pain.

Loss is when you’re afraid to wake up in the morning, to fall out of the safety of a dream.

In the fall, Vika was supposed to go to Paris on a prestigious scholarship from Columbia University, where she was selected out of thousands of candidates to write a non-fiction book about the war, in particular, about women who write about war.

A person of her caliber often doubts themselves and, more than once, Vika wrote to me in a difficult moment, saying that nothing was working out for her in her writing, that everything was somehow not right… But she never doubted this book of hers.

…And in May, a dear person took me, perpetually overwhelmed, to the sea, to a beautiful corner of the world, to an island with cozy coves. The waves were crashing in the bay, and I couldn’t resist recording a short video for Vika. She always loved one of my poems, which I call the poem about cats, although there’s actually only one line about cats. It’s a poem about how all the good forces in the world are on your side.

do you hear – the sea roars? it says to you: I am on your side on your side

(Translated by Olena Jennings)

I spoke these words while recording the waves for Vika, the waves that are for her, forever for her, in this world, and in all possible worlds.

Ukrainian soldiers hold a portrait of the Victoria Amelina in her honor during her funeral service on July 5, 2023, in Lviv, Ukraine. (Photo by Les Kasyanov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Editor’s Note: This article was published by Suspilne Culture on July 4, 2023, and has been translated and republished by the Kyiv Independent with permission. The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

[justineportraits]

Kazimierz Dzyga    Les chevaux de lune

[hcibsw2]

https://twitter.com/dim0kq/status/1555612916241547264

[tatarczuk]

[dontforgetukraine]

"If we don’t keep the front in Donetsk, then the war will come closer and closer—to Dnipro, to Kharkiv, to Kyiv, to Lviv, and finally to Warsaw. In 2022, we were one step away from disaster, and that is why we must contain the enemy and save the sovereignty of Ukraine. If Ukraine is defeated, many like me will be forcibly conscripted into the Russian army—as has happened to the ‘liberated’ population of Donbass—and forced to go to a new war with Chechen soldiers on their backs so that they cannot retreat. This is not a local conflict, it is something much bigger, something which has, so far, been contained by the Ukrainian defenders."

—Dmytro Zhluktenko, founder of Dzyga’s Paw Fund. He is now enlisted in the Ukrainian Army.

Source: “I do not want to be Russian; I want to have freedom”: An Interview with Dmytro Zhluktenko

[qliebin]

Друзья, во вторник 31 января, в 19.00, во Львове состоится открытие моей персональной фотовыставки "Однажды на Марсе". Арт-кофейня "Квартира 35", (Дзыга, 2 этаж) ул. Армянская, 35. А сразу после открытия будет творческая встреча, на которой я расскажу про историю создания этого проекта и скажу таки пару слов за свое фототворчество ;-) Приходите - буду рад встрече с каждым из Вас! Вход свободный. #lviv #lvov #ukraine #photoexpo #expo #dzyga #qliebin #onedayonmars #night #nightphoto #nightphotography #stars #footprint #unusual

[artwalktv]

The place of this animated short is the city Dnipro (Ukraine). Partly a documentary, through the prism of absurdity and black humor, the film tells the story about a big city during historical changes and decommunization. The world premiere - Annecy 2019 Director - Mykyta Lyskov Sound director and composer - Anton Baibakov Animation - Kateryna Voznytsia, Nikita Lyskov Backgrounds and phasing - Anastasia Belikova, Veleria Skalytska, Iva Naidenko Music: Kurs Valüt - Love Inspektor, Олексій Дьячков - Знову спізнився на урок Awards: DokLeipzig (Germany) - next masters competition - Grand prix Poff shorts (Estonia) - International competition - Grand prix International Animated Film Festival Animocje - Grand prix Open night (Ukraine) – Ukrainian competition – Grand prix 48th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Jury award KISFF Kyiv International Short Film Festival (Ukraine) - International competition - Audience award Kinoshok (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Kinokolo (Ukraine) - best animated movie 2019 Turku Animated Film Festival (Finland) - International competition – Grand prix Linoleum International animation Short Film Festival (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix PIAFF, Paris International Animation Film Festival (France) - International competition - Jury Award Balkanima (Serbia) - International competition - Special Mention Međunarodni festival animacije Animanima (Serbia) - Special Mention Feinaki 2019 Beijing Animation Week (China) - International competition - jury award Laterna Magica (Brazil) - Diploma for best animation technique KROK (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Golden Dzyga (Ukraine) - best ukrainian animated movie 2020 Animafest Cyprus - Honorary Mention Rising of Lusitania - AnimaDoc Film Festival in Łódź (07-13.09.2020) - Special Mention Festival of animation Berlin - Special Mention Best Animation Short Prize at the 19th edition of the Lausanne Underground Film Festival ZUBROFFKA special mention by Polish Journalist Jury ZUBROFFKA main award in the EASTWARD WINDOW

[cineastua]

Кохання/DeepLove from Mykyta Lyskov on Vimeo.

The place of this animated short is the city Dnipro (Ukraine). Partly a documentary, through the prism of absurdity and black humor, the film tells the story about a big city during historical changes and decommunization. The world premiere - Annecy 2019 Director - Mykyta Lyskov Sound director and composer - Anton Baibakov Animation - Kateryna Voznytsia, Nikita Lyskov Backgrounds and phasing - Anastasia Belikova, Veleria Skalytska, Iva Naidenko Music: Kurs Valüt - Love Inspektor, Олексій Дьячков - Знову спізнився на урок Awards: DokLeipzig (Germany) - next masters competition - Grand prix Poff shorts (Estonia) - International competition - Grand prix International Animated Film Festival Animocje - Grand prix Open night (Ukraine) – Ukrainian competition – Grand prix 48th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Jury award KISFF Kyiv International Short Film Festival (Ukraine) - International competition - Audience award Kinoshok (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Kinokolo (Ukraine) - best animated movie 2019 Turku Animated Film Festival (Finland) - International competition – Grand prix Linoleum International animation Short Film Festival (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix PIAFF, Paris International Animation Film Festival (France) - International competition - Jury Award Balkanima (Serbia) - International competition - Special Mention Međunarodni festival animacije Animanima (Serbia) - Special Mention Feinaki 2019 Beijing Animation Week (China) - International competition - jury award Laterna Magica (Brazil) - Diploma for best animation technique KROK (Ukraine) - Ukrainian competition – Grand prix Golden Dzyga (Ukraine) - best ukrainian animated movie 2020 Animafest Cyprus - Honorary Mention Rising of Lusitania - AnimaDoc Film Festival in Łódź (07-13.09.2020) - Special Mention Festival of animation Berlin - Special Mention Best Animation Short Prize at the 19th edition of the Lausanne Underground Film Festival ZUBROFFKA special mention by Polish Journalist Jury ZUBROFFKA main award in the EASTWARD WINDOW

[krolikowskiart]

Do you miss the New World Order?

The Ukrainian-Turkish project "The other face of Turkey / The other faces of Turks" is exhibited now, till 25th of January in Lviv at Dzyga gallery. There is presented our photo installation "New Order" that holds the key of new world order.

[liudmila-davydenko]

«В такому живописі присутній фундаментальний метод, що закладений, можливо, в самому явищі культури. Художник бачить все розмаїття цього світу і трансформує його у живопис, віддаючи йому все своє єство. Особисте бачення і впевнений рух пензля художника стають одними з рушійних факторів видимого світу, а сам художник виявляється вплетеним у його матерію, навіть, якщо, точніше, в тканину, рядно, полотно…Окрім того митця не просто бачить світ, воно бачить те, чого не вистачає світові, щоб стати завершеністю, стати картиною...»

Дмитро Корсунь, мистецтвознавець

the last & the main exibitions:

2015 - Participant of the Paris Art Fair, France - Personal exhibition "Visions" in the Green Sofa Gallery, Lviv 2014 - Exhibition in Contemporary Art Fair ART ZURICH, Switzerland - Participant of the Charity Auction to maintain the fighters in ATO, Lviv 2013 - Participant of “The French Spring”. The main prize behalf of Onore de Balsak of organization "Alliance Française", Lviv 2012 - Exhibition in LVIV FASHION WEEK 2012, Lviv - Exhibition “Metamorphosis” in Art center “DARA”, Kyiv 2011 - Participant of exhibition of Ukrainian artists in the Embassy of Ukraine in Vienna, Austria 2011 - Participant of exhibition of Ukrainian artists in Vienna, Austria - Personal exhibition in “Primus” gallery, Lviv - Exhibition of the project «She and He 2», Palace of Arts, Lviv 2010 - Exhibition of the project «She and He», Palace of Arts, Lviv - Participant of International exhibition of Ukrainian and Polish artists, Rzeszow, Poland - Participant of international art festival «CONTEMPORIARY ART KYIV», Kyiv 2009 - Participant of International Painting Trienalle of painting «Silver Quadrangle», Przemysl, Poland. 2008 - Participant of All-Ukrainian art exhibition «Women of Ukraine – Artists», Kyiv - Personal exhibition of paintings in «Dzyga» Gallery, Lviv - Participant of international art festival «ART-KYIV», Kyiv 2006 - Personal exhibition of paintings in the gallery «36», Kyiv

The works are held in private collections: Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Germany, USA, France and Switzerland.

[justineportraits]

Kazimierz Dzyga    Voyage autour du Rêve

[anujtikku1974]

Considered Ukraine’s cultural capital, Lviv has the most western architecture of all the cities of the country. Lviv is a poetic city steeped in legends both ancient and relatively new. Narrow medieval streets paved with stones as well as architectural decorations done in different styles are all preserved in the original forms.

The historic city centre (Old Town) is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its beautiful narrow streets, magnificent churches, fascinating museums and charming atmosphere. It is the perfect place to visit with pubs and breweries among the cobblestone roads and Renaissance-era buildings.

The city is welcoming, offering a wide range of themed restaurants, bars and nightlife. No matter the season, it’s popular with Ukrainians who come here for a weekend to feel the Old Town vibes. For them, this is a common summer ritual when the weather warms up. For them, it is no novelty to sit in public places such as sidewalks or parks and partake in a light alcoholic beverage.

Lviv is famous for its knaipas which are local pubs that serve drinks and food. One of the most curious ones is Gasova Lampa (Gas Lamp) — a museum-restaurant with one of the biggest collection of gas lamps in Europe. In case you are a lamp collector, a visit to Gasova Lampa at 20 Virmenska Street is a must. Similarly, the Lviv Chocolate Factory is a must-visit for chocolate lovers.

Founded in 1256 by Danylo Halytskiy, a prince of the Galicia-Volhynia principality, Lviv is 50 kilometres from the Polish border. Under the long reign of Danylo’s son, Lev (1264-1301), Lviv became the capital city of the Galician-Volhynian kingdom. It is full of culture and historical significance to Ukrainian history. No wonder that, many who visit the city carry back lasting memories for Ukraine.

In spite of all the whims of history, the city has not lost its Ukrainian spirit and Lviv’s delicate architecture has not suffered from ravages of the Soviet era.

The St. George’s Cathedral is a popular tourist attraction. The Cathedral is one of the finest examples of Rococo church architecture in Europe. From 1817 to 1946, it served as the seat of the Ukranian Greek Catholic Church. The cathedral’s complex, consisting of the church, the bell tower (its bell dates back to 1341), the metropolitan’s palace, office buildings, a wrought-iron fence, two gates, and a garden, stands on a high terrace overlooking the old city of Lviv. The high exterior walls are decorated with simplified Corinthian pilasters, Rococo stone lanterns, and a cornice.

The Armenian Cathedral is part of the tapestry woven by more than 100 nationalities. Armenians began inhabiting the city in the 14th century and established their own quarter complete with a small cathedral completed in 1370. This original building perished in the fire of 1527. The structure that stands today blends a few architectural styles including Old Russian, Gothic and Armenian. The courtyard gives a tranquil setting for the decorative column and figure of St. Christopher. The neighbouring buildings are those of a former Armenian bank, established in the 17th century, and Lviv’s oldest pawnshop.

The Chapel of the Boim Family was constructed in the early 17th century on the grounds of what was a city cemetery. This quaint structure was originally intended for use as a crypt by the Boim family. George Boim, a Lviv merchant and moneylender of Hungarian origin, started the project and his son, Paul-George, put the finishing touches on what would become a permanent feature in Lviv’s stunning centre. The side of the chapel is decorated with fretwork that gives the impression that the entire structure has been turned inside-out.

Other Places to See:

The Dzyga Cultural Center is a contemporary art space with a music hall and bar.

The National Museum in Lviv comprises of two buildings: the original museum and the newer museum across from the Grand Hotel. Enjoy a grand view of Ukrainian icons from the 14th to the 17th century.

The 220 spiral metal steps of Castle Hill, northeast of the city centre, lead to the remains of a castle that is supposedly on the spot where Danylo founded Lviv. Enjoy the spectacular views of the city and the distant Carpathian Mountains from the summit.

As a day trip from Lviv, visitors can follow the Golden Horseshoe route: a tourist trail around the most prominent regional castles — Olesko Castle, Zolochiv Castle and Pidhirtsi Castle.

#gallery-7598-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-7598-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-7598-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-7598-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Lviv’s Legends and Heritage Considered Ukraine's cultural capital, Lviv has the most western architecture of all the cities of the country.