Cultural & Civil Society news

Meet Ukraine: A Celebration of Life

May 26, 2023 - Ukraine is so much more than the war that grips the country, indeed the war that grips all of Europe. With our exhibition of works by Ukrainian artists, we want to highlight an important positive side of Ukraine. We show paintings, photo’s and sculptures by six artists.

We also want to give the artists the space to tell their own story without being dictated by the war.

Join us at gallery De Twee Pauwen at Oranjestraat 1, 2514 JB in The Hague on Sunday, June 11 at 15:00. Let us remember that in a world of chaos and destruction, it is the beauty of art that reminds us of our shared humanity and gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow. See you there.

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsCultureArtSolidarity/Fundraising

Langs het spoor van Russische vernielingen. (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 7)

February 09, 2023 - Voormalig ambassadeur en ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry is weer in Oekraïne om de lokale bevolking te helpen de winter door te komen. Hij volgt het spoor van de oorlog, die inmiddels ook een culturele strijd is geworden. ‘Het was surrealistisch om in de verse sneeuw de houten kruizen te zien die naast de open kuilen waren gezet waar slachtoffers van de Russische bezetting waren opgegraven.’

 

Civil SocietyOpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsCultureRussian invasionRefugeesSolidarity/FundraisingReconstructionIrpinHousing

ODU organises “Ukraine knowledge conference” in The Hague

January 09, 2023 -

ODU-KNOWLEDGE · Dutch foundation OpenDoorUkraine.NL (ODU) will hold a special conference in The Hague on January 11 to assess the state of knowledge on Ukraine. Ukraine experts from universities and think tanks in the Netherlands and Flanders, including several Ukrainian scholars, have been invited for this confidential meeting.

OpenDoorUkraine.NLReformsRussian invasionDebate/LectureReconstructionAcademia

Wat als een regelrechte overwinning voor Oekraïne onhaalbaar blijkt? (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 6)

November 21, 2022 - Nu Cherson is heroverd en de Oekraïense troepen terrein winnen, doemt de vraag weer op wat voor Oekraïne een aanvaardbaar einde van de oorlog zou zijn. Robert Serry besprak het in Kyiv met zijn contacten. "De vraag ligt zo gevoelig dat niemand openlijk durft te twijfelen over de afloop."

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsUSABohdan KhmelnitskyKyivDefenceRussian invasionKherson

Wederopbouw, solidariteit, en het verloop van de oorlog. (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 5)

August 14, 2022 - Vijfde deel van het verslag van ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry uit Kyiv, waar hij precies dertig jaar geleden aantrad als eerste Nederlandse ambassadeur. Gesprek met de vice-premier over de wederopbouw, hoe verder met de strijd, en een bezoek aan Lviv. 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsKyivLvivRussian invasionSolidarity/FundraisingReconstruction

Donnez aux Ukrainiens d'Irpin un toit au-dessus de leur tête

August 12, 2022 - La ville ukrainienne d'Irpin près de Kyiv a été durement touchée par la guerre en Ukraine. Pendant leur occupation le printemps dernier, les troupes russes ont laissé une traînée de destruction et de souffrance humaine. La fondation OpenDoorUkraine.NL a besoin de votre soutien pour aider les habitants d'Irpin à restaurer leurs domiciles, et acceptera vos donations avec gratitude via ce lien.

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLRussian invasionFranceSolidarity/FundraisingReconstruction

Help Oekraïners in Irpin aan een dak boven het hoofd

August 04, 2022 - OpenDoorUkraine.NL zet zich in om burgers in Irpin te helpen hun woningen te herstellen voordat de winter toeslaat. U kunt hen helpen door via deze link te doneren! Deze actie was ook te zien op de NOS tv en website.

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsRussian invasionSolidarity/FundraisingReconstructionIrpin

De mensen die het moreel hooghouden in Oekraïne. (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 4)

August 04, 2022 - ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry is deze zomer teruggekeerd naar Kyiv, precies dertig jaar nadat hij daar Nederlands eerste ambassadeur in Oekraïne werd. Hun datsja (buitenhuisje) 30 kilometer buiten de hoofdstad staat er nog - maar het scheelde niet veel.

 

Donbas conflictOpenDoorUkraine.NLKyivRussian invasionReconstructionIrpin

Zonder herovering van Cherson geen bestand. )Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 3)

July 28, 2022 - ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry is deze zomer teruggekeerd naar Kyiv, precies dertig jaar nadat hij daar Nederlands eerste ambassadeur in Oekraïne werd. Een wapenstilstand zou lucht geven, maar dat is alleen denkbaar als Cherson is heroverd op de Russische bezetter.

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLKyivRussian invasion

Oekraïne vecht en herbouwt tegelijkertijd. (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 2)

July 17, 2022 - ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry is deze zomer teruggekeerd naar Kyiv, precies dertig jaar nadat hij daar Nederlands eerste ambassadeur in Oekraïne werd. In dit tweede deel van zijn dagboek beschrijft hij een land in puin dat heilig gelooft in de overwinning en al aan de wederopbouw begonnen is. 

 

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsKyivWWIIRussian invasionIvano-Frankivsk

Terug naar Kyiv. (Oorlogsdagboek Robert Serry, deel 1)

July 07, 2022 - ODU-voorzitter Robert Serry is deze zomer teruggekeerd naar Kyiv, precies dertig jaar nadat hij daar Nederlands eerste ambassadeur in Oekraïne werd. Vanuit de hoofdstad van een land in oorlog met Rusland houdt hij een dagboek bij. 

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsKyivRussian invasion

“Oekraïne is geen land, George!” Waarom Poetin niet kan winnen

May 09, 2022 - (Verslag van een lezing voor de viering van Europadag op 9 mei 2022 in Utrecht.)

 

Het is een gepaste dag om over Oekraïne te praten. We vieren vandaag Europadag, het jaarlijkse feest van vrede en eenheid in Europa. En vanmorgen hield Poetin een enorme militaire parade op het Rode Plein in Moskou voor de Dag van de Overwinning op nazi-Duitsland in 1945, terwijl zijn leger dood en vernietiging zaait in Oekraïne. Het lijken wel twee totaal verschillende Europa’s.

 

HistoryUkrainologyRussiaRussian invasionDebate/Lecture

STEUN OEKRAÏNE! Kom op zondag 6 maart naar Amsterdam

March 04, 2022 - De verschrikkingen in Oekraïne houden niet op. Nadat het Oekraïense leger de eerste Russische aanvallen met onverwachte successen wist tegen te houden, lijkt Rusland te zijn overgegaan tot een tactiek van de verschroeide aarde. Steden, civiele infrastructuur, woonwijken en zelfs kerncentrales worden meedogenloos gebombardeerd - met als gevolg nu al een miljoenen vluchtelingen over de grens, en massa's ontheemden in eigen land.

 

 

NetherlandsDemonstrationRussian invasion

ODU solidair met Oekraïne, vraagt om hulp voor vluchtelingen en oorlogsslachtoffers

February 24, 2022 - ODU - HUMANITARIAN · Het ondenkbare is gebeurd. Net als velen in Oekraïne, Nederland en wereldwijd is Stichting OpenDoorUkraine.NL (ODU) geschokt door de plotse militaire aanval die de Russische president Poetin tegen zijn buurland heeft ingezet. Deze invasie is het begin van een lange nacht voor Oekraïne.

 

Humanitarian aidNGOsNetherlandsRussiaGeopolitics

Ukrainian tv follows composer Shalygin in The Hague

November 11, 2021 - ODU-Culture – Within the small world of contemporary music, composer Maxim Shalygin could be called world-famous in the Netherlands. Ukrainian tv recently came over to produce a documentary film on him and his music.

NetherlandsMusicClassical

ODU conference discusses 30 years of Ukraine's independence

September 14, 2021 - ODU · Achievements and challenges of Ukraine during the past 30 years of its independence was marked in The Hague by a special anniversary conference organized by OpenDoorUkraine.NL (ODU) in cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in the Netherlands. In a political panel, speakers discussed how Ukraine consolidated and bolstered its national unity and identity during this period, in spite of all its internal diversities and the ongoing war with Russia’s proxies in the East.

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsGeopoliticsPolitics

Join the ODU conference “Ukraine's Place in Europe” ONLINE on September 14!

September 05, 2021 - To mark Ukraine’s 30th independence anniversary, the OpenDoorUkraine.NL foundation will hold a hybrid conference in The Hague on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, on the theme: UKRAINE’S PLACE IN EUROPE: Achievements and Challenges after 30 years of Independence. You are welcome to join this event online via livestream.

 

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNetherlandsBusinessGeopoliticsPolitics

Ukraine wrestles its way up the Tokyo Olympics

August 08, 2021 - After a less than stellar start, Ukraine’s team at the Olympics in Tokyo made a spectacular push in the last days of the Games, thanks to its wrestlers.

 

Sports

Ukraine's Go_A ends 5th in Rotterdam Eurovision Contest

May 23, 2021 - ODU - CULTURE · Ukrainian electro-folk band Go_A finished at 5th place in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. The group won especially thanks to the televoters, that found Ukraine the second best act of the festival. 

 

NetherlandsMusicPop

“New York” arises again in the Donbas

May 09, 2021 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY / CULTURE · Manhattan, the Big Apple and Broadway seem worlds away from the Donbas. But that hasn't stopped the inhabitants of the small eastern Ukrainian town of Novhorod in Donetsk region from reclaiming its original name: Нью-Йорк, or New York.

 

Donbas conflictUNCivil SocietyNetherlandsUSAHistoryDonbasMennonites

Ukraine pays respect to its WWII victims in the Netherlands

May 09, 2021 - The Ukrainian Embassy and the Ukrainian community in the Netherlands paid their respects to Ukrainian WW2 soldiers who are buried in the Dutch town of Leusden. On May 8, together with representatives of the municipality, they laid a wreath at the Soviet War Cemetary.

NetherlandsHistoryRussiaWWII

Ukraine mourns death of composer Myroslav Skoryk

June 03, 2020 - ODU - CULTURE · Ukraine has lost one of its best-known contemporary composers, Myroslav Skoryk, who passed away in Kyiv aged 81. He leaves behind a prolific musical legacy of piano pieces, concertos for violin, for cello and for piano, operas, ballets, film scores and religious works.

CoronaMusicClassicalJazz

“King of Ukraine” returns home as an opera star

March 01, 2020 - ODU - CULTURE · This spring, 125 years after his birth, the former would-be king of Ukraine will return to his country and take the stage. The opera “Vyshyvaniy, King of Ukraine” will have its premiere on May 29 at the Lysenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kharkiv. 

OperaHistory

Ukraine “remakes” first ever feature movie on Holocaust

January 27, 2020 - ODU - CULTURE · Ahead of the international commemoration of the Holocaust today, 75 years afer the liberation of Auschwitz, Ukraine has announced it will finance a movie project on Babyn Yar near Kyiv, where over 100,000 Jews and other victims of the nazis were murdered during World War II.

FilmHolocaustStalinismWWII

Ukraine uses e-census to count population

January 24, 2020 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · The Ukrainian government has used a new type of electronic census to count the country’s population. The study (view here) shows that there are now 37,289,000 people living in Ukraine.

EconomyPopulationIT

Ukrainian films star in Rotterdam IFFR film festival 2020

January 15, 2020 - ODU - CULTURE · Ukraine is well represented at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam, according to the definitive programme announced on January 15. Movie fans will be able to watch two award-winning productions on Ukraine: post-war feature film Atlantis, and Dutch football documentary Becoming LEV.

Donbas conflictHumanitarian aidFilmFootball

“Mr. Jones” brings Holodomor to the movie screens

December 03, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · A new international feature film is bringing the tragedy of the Holodomor – the famine in Ukraine caused by Soviet dictator Stalin during 1932-1933 – to the big screen. “Mr. Jones”, a Polish-British-Ukrainian co-production by Oscar-nominated director Agnieszka Holland, had its public release in Ukraine and Poland late November.

FilmHolodomorJournalismFake news

The Hague forum debates conflict in Ukraine and EU's role as peace actor

November 01, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · The crisis in eastern Ukraine, and the possible role of the European Union in bringing peace, took centre stage during a discussion in The Hague on October 30. The event, organised by Dutch NGO PAX for Peace and the Ukrainian Embassy, was co-hosted by OpenDoorUkraine.NL.

Donbas conflictCrimeaNGOsCrimean TatarsSecurityPeaceOpenDoorUkraine.NL

Free cd with Ukrainian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk only for Dutch listeners

November 01, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · Ukrainian-Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk has recorded a cd with the reknowned Dutch violinist Janine Jansen, her first album since four years. The recording is only available in the Netherlands until the end of the year – not for sale, but for free.

MusicClassical

City of Pereyaslav cuts out cossack hero from its name

Oktober 30, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY / CULTURE · The central Ukrainian city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky is reverting to its original name “Pereyaslav”, deleting the reference to 17th century cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnitsky. The decision by local authorities was confirmed by the national parliament in Kyiv on 29 October by 267 of the 450 MPs.

HistoryPereyaslavBohdan KhmelnitskyDecommunisation

EU launches House of Europe to support cultural projects in Ukraine

Oktober 21, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · The European Union has launched the House of Europe project to support cultural and educational projects in Ukraine. Creative Ukrainian minds can apply for 20 grants, that will be funded for a total of €12.2 million.

EUEducationCulture

Ukrainian journalists fear media grab by pro-Russian forces

Oktober 17, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · Media and politicians in Ukraine are worrying about pro-Russian operators who are gaining control of news and tv channels. The acquisition of west Ukrainian tv news channel ZIK by a crony of pro-Putin oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk this summer prompted an investigation by parliament.

MediaOligarchsParliament

OpenDoorUkraine.NL joins The Hague debate on Donbas peace prospects

Oktober 13, 2019 - OpenDoorUkraine.NL will co-host a debate on “The European ‘Peace Project’ at a Crossroads, Challenges and Opportunities”. This meeting, which will take place in The Hague on October 30, will discuss the role of the European Union as a peace actor in relation to the conflicts in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region and elsewhere in the EU’s eastern neighborhood.

Donbas conflictOpenDoorUkraine.NL

New poll measures Ukrainians' civic engagement and support for NGO's

Oktober 11, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · Ukrainians are not very actively engaged in civic actions, but they are aware of their rights and often ready to support NGO’s, according to a recent opinion poll. Corruption is recognised as the country’s biggest problem, and people expect someone to do something about it: in the first place, the president.

Civil SocietyNGO'sCorruptionDiversityCivil rights

Sophia Ivanko to sing for Ukraine at Junior Eurovision Song Festival 2019

Oktober 08, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · 13-year old Sophia Ivanko from Kyiv will represent Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Festival. She will sing “The spirit of music” at the festival in Gliwice-Silesia in Poland on November 24. One of her 18 opponents will be Dutch singer Matheu (also 13).

Music

OpenDoorUkraine.NL supports Ukrainian civil society NGOs with two projects

Oktober 07, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · At its latest Board meeting in The Hague, OpenDoorUkraine.NL (ODU) has decided that, from now on, it will help to promote the empowerment of Ukrainian civil society. This new focus has been included in its mandate and has already resulted in a cooperation with Ukrainian NGOs on two projects.

OpenDoorUkraine.NLNGO'sCorruptionEnvironmentEnergyHuman rights

Ukraine's Culture ministry bans animals from state circuses

Oktober 06, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · If you’ll be visiting a Ukrainian state circus, don’t be surprised if you don’t see any bears, lions or elephants. Ukraine’s Culture ministry has decided to stop buying animals for state circuses. A working group will develop a plan to withdraw animals from such circuses as soon as possible.

NGO'sAnimals

Jewish pilgrims flock to Uman in Ukraine for New Year celebration

Oktober 02, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · Up to 27,000 orthodox Jewish believers have descended on Uman in Central Ukraine to pray at the grave of rabbi Nachman of Bratslav during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year from September 29 to October 1.

JewishReligionTourism

Dean of US Ukrainology studies Mark von Hagen dies

September 27, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · US historian Mark von Hagen, a pivotal figure in the studies of Ukraine in the West, has died aged 65. He was known for leading a crucial investigation in media reporting during the 1930s on the Holodomor.

HistoryHolodomorUkrainologyDisinformation

“Maastricht student” heads Ukraine's Education and science ministry

September 02, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · The University of Maastricht in the southern Netherlands can take pride in the meteoric career of one of its Ukrainian alumni: Hanna Novosad, who was appointed Minister for Education and Science in the new Ukrainian government – making her (one of) the education youngest ministers in Europe.

NetherlandsEducation

Ukraine sends Crimean Tatar movie to Oscars

August 29, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · The Ukrainian Oscar Committee has selected its candidate film for the 2020 Academy Awards: “Homeward”, a Crimean Tatar family drama that reflects the turbulent events in Ukraine of the past five years.

CrimeaCrimean TatarsFilm

A new find in the Veluwe: Did the Dutch people have Ukrainian forefathers?

August 09, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · Just as OpenDoorUkraine.NL is preparing to participate in the Ukraine Days that will be organised in Dutch National Park De Hoge Veluwe, archeologists have made a unique find in this natural area: the prehistoric ancestors of the Dutch may have been Ukrainian immigrants.

NetherlandsHoge VeluweHistoryArcheology

Novel by Ukrainian journalist Butchenko gets first publication in Dutch

July 29, 2019 - ODU - CULTURE · A Dutch première for Ukrainian author Maksim Butchenko: his book De Rode Driehoek (The Red Triangle) has been translated into Dutch, making it the first international publication of this historical novel.

LiteratureBooks on Ukraine

Kyiv holds biggest gay pride march ever

June 23, 2019 - ODU - CIVIL SOCIETY · A record 8,000 people joined the yearly Equality March for gay rights in Kyiv on June 23.

NGOsDiversityGay rightsKyiv