Via Carpatia 2022

The 5th International Forum of Central and Eastern Europe, Via Carpatia 2022, under the theme “Culture: Tested by War”, took place in Lviv on 3–4 December 2022.

The 5th Via Carpatia Forum of Central and Eastern Europe was devoted to the challenges facing Ukrainian culture during the war

The panel discussions were broadcast live on Espreso TV. The main topics discussed included: culture’s potential to strengthen society’s moral resilience, opportunities to promote culture worldwide today, and preserving heritage during wartime.

The two-day Forum brought together Ukrainian intellectuals, politicians, civic activists and artists: Mykola Kniazhytskyi, Rostyslav Luzhetskyi, Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi, Mariia Makivnychuk, Bohdan Tykholoz, Halyna Kruk, Iryna Tsilyk, Solomiia Borshosh, Elmira Ablialimova, Olha Salo, Leonid Finberg, Anatolii Khromov and Yaryna Yasynevych.

In keeping with tradition, the fifth presentation of the Stanisław Vincenz Prize for Humanistic Service and a Contribution to Regional Development took place.
This year’s prize went to volunteer, volunteer servicewoman, paramedic and commander of the Taira’s Angels unit, Yuliia “Taira” Paievska.
Yuliia Paievska dedicated her prize in particular to children’s writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was tortured to death by the occupiers.

“For me right now, culture is first and foremost a weapon. We can see what the occupiers do when they enter a village or town: they destroy all cultural monuments, museums and books, and worst of all, they kill our cultural figures… Recently, the body of Volodymyr Vakulenko, killed by the occupiers, was found in Izium. He was a children’s writer… I don’t think I am worthy of this great prize. But I accept it as a great honour and dedicate it to Volodymyr Vakulenko and all the cultural figures who were tortured and killed by the Moscow occupiers”, Paievska said.

Yaryna Yasynevych, Director of the Via Carpatia Forum, noted that the world was now paying close attention to Ukraine and trying to learn more about it. “We have a chance to explain what makes us distinct and shed our colonial burden. Finding the inspiration and strength to do so amid all the darkness is an important mission of culture. And this became the theme of this year’s Forum: ‘Culture: Tested by War’,” she emphasised.

On 4 December 2022, as part of the Via Carpatia International Forum of Central and Eastern Europe, Culture: Tested by War, Franko House in Lviv hosted a presentation of the Ukrainian translation of Stanisław Vincenz’s book Dialogues with the Soviets (Apriori publishing house, translated by Oles Herasym, with a preface by Andrii Pavlyshyn).

The book was published with support from Member of the Ukrainian Parliament Mykola Kniazhytskyi and the All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum NGO.

“The outstanding Polish writer Stanisław Vincenz wrote this book in exile after the Second World War. In it, he reconstructed and reflected on his experiences in 1939–1941: the arrival of the ‘Soviets’, his arrest as a representative of the ‘class enemy’ (the Vincenz family owned a small business), his release from prison in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), the many appeals from his fellow villagers — Ukrainian peasants, his escape across the border into Hungary, and his wartime hardships…,” explained Andrii Pavlyshyn, author of the preface.

Watch recordings of the events here:
Panel 1: Culture’s Potential to Strengthen Society’s Moral Resilience
Panel 2: Opportunities to Promote Culture Worldwide Today
Panel 3: Preserving Heritage During Wartime
Espreso TV’s report on the book presentation is available at this link 
Espreso TV’s report on the prize ceremony is available here

Organisers
Verkhovyna — Flower of the Carpathians NGO, All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum NGO, Espreso TV, Franko House in Lviv
Initiator: Mykola Kniazhytskyi
Director: Yaryna Yasynevych
Curators: Oksana Poltavets and Lidiia Topolevska
Television curators: Anastasiia Ravva, Svitlana Samoilenko and Svitlana Svitelska
Photos: Nataliia Yasynevych