The identity of a nation is woven from fragile things
Three years after the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the creative community of Ukraine, of which I am a part, continues to operate within the logic of developmental values rather than mere survival.
The current war has many dimensions; in addition to the events on the battlefield, it has brought about constant terror from the skies, an information war, and a dramatic reduction in opportunities for entrepreneurship and creativity. However, living through this catastrophe has taught us to adapt and refocus in our search for ideas and models of working.
The genocidal war waged by Russia against Ukraine intensifies the theme of identity. The aggression of 2022 has already given rise to a new martyrology of Ukrainian poets and writers who spoke of humanity and expressed themselves as humanists in the face of Russian soldiers.
They died where the frontier is felt most acutely, where modern Ukraine literally stands as the border between life and death. The contemporary creative community of Ukraine bears witness to trauma, gathers evidence of Russian war crimes for future justice, reflects on the experience of war, and interrogates its past, which now appears in a new light, free from the veil of colonialism. Modern Ukraine understands its own purpose and value.
The stories encoding Ukrainian identity
Before the war, I worked as a screenwriter and creator, drawn to genre cinema and alternative history. The full-scale invasion of Russia has refocused my interests. Fortunately, in 2024, I became part of a team that is publishing the legendary historical and ethnographic art album Ukraine and Ukrainians.
The value of a sheet of paper is a question contemplated by a mature society. Ukraine and Ukrainians is a series of handcrafted art books, created in a single copy by sculptor, collector and ethnographer Ivan Honchar as a result of his expeditions across various regions of Ukraine in the 20th century. He sketched anthropological types, collected a compendium of applied arts, clothing, decorative objects, and old photographs from the late 19th to early 20th century.
The identity of a nation is woven from fragile things, such as manuscripts or ceramics. Ukrainian identity at the turn of the century is encoded in human stories hidden behind photographs of folk theatres and industrial collectives in Donbas and Crimea, dressed in vyshyvankas (embroidered shirts). Chernobyl and Bucha then manifest themselves as beautiful communities with vibrant local life.
Conscious resistance to genocide
Identity stands in opposition to the Russian/Soviet ideological machinery, which has deliberately distorted and misrepresented the accurate visual code of Ukraine, transforming an ancient tradition of diverse community into a hollow ritual of the exotic natives.
Centuries of Russian/Soviet colonialism—stealing historical artefacts, relocating archives, and the literal destruction of precious manuscripts—have robbed Ukraine of chronicles from its medieval and modern times. I dream that Europe will help restore these unique pages.
Contemporary Ukrainian identity is now augmented by its militarism, its experience of conscious resistance to genocide. The demand for justice and dignity has become highly important—it is, in fact, a marker for distinguishing between “friend” and “foe.”
Find out more about our Fellows’ work in Ukraine