- April 14, 2025
- 10:33 am
- Israel
On March 27, 2025, a cultural event will take place in Tel Aviv, dedicated to the legacy of Taras Shevchenko and his influence on the formation of the Ukrainian national identity.
The program includes a screening of the film about the artistic residency “On the Threshold. Mystery of Will” and a Zoom meeting and online lecture by Svitlana Kulbashna on how hidden meanings in Shevchenko’s poetry help understand Ukraine’s current struggle for freedom.
Date and Venue
- Date: March 27, 2025
- Location: Ukrainian Cultural Center in Tel Aviv
- Time: 18:30 – guest gathering, 19:00 – start
- Free entry
- Organizer: Olha Volodina
- Event from the organizers: https://www.facebook.com/events/3936552726614463/
Registration link: Sign Up
Taras Shevchenko and why this event is dedicated to his birthday?
Taras Shevchenko (March 9, 1814 – March 10, 1861)
Ukrainian poet, prose writer, artist, thinker, and public figure, who played a key role in the formation of the Ukrainian national identity.
Shevchenko
- Wrote 237 poems and works, 235 of them in Ukrainian.
- Created 11 prose works, including the drama “Nazar Stodolia”.
- One of the founders of modern Ukrainian language and literature.
- Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
- Member of the Kyrylo-Mefodiyiv Brotherhood, which advocated for Ukraine’s independence from the Russian Empire.
- Symbol of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom, whose works were banned in the Russian Empire and the USSR.
Shevchenko was born on March 9, 1814, in the Kyiv province (now Cherkasy region, Ukraine) and died on March 10, 1861, in St. Petersburg. These days, events dedicated to his memory and contribution to Ukrainian culture take place worldwide.
Shevchenko was inspired by the Dnieper Rapids, seeing in their power the symbol of the unyielding Ukrainian spirit. It is in this place, more than 150 years later, that the artistic residency “On the Threshold. Mystery of Will” was founded, exploring the influence of natural landscapes on Ukrainian culture and historical memory.
Art Residency “On the Threshold. Mystery of Will”
What is it?
- Cultural-research residency created in the Dnieper Rapids in Svitlana Kulbashna’s Landscape Park.
- A place where Ukrainian artists explore the philosophical meanings of Shevchenko’s poetry.
- An attempt to revive Ukraine’s national identity through art and return lost cultural meanings.
How and why did this art residency come about?
For decades, Soviet power deliberately erased the memory of Zaporizhzhia as the center of Ukrainian will.
- The Dnieper Rapids were flooded to erase them from the face of the earth.
- Cossack settlements and historical landscapes were destroyed or renamed.
- In Soviet interpretation, Zaporizhzhia was reduced to the image of a “Cossack in the service of Russia,” ignoring its significance as a symbol of independence.
Svitlana Kulbashna, while researching the philosophy of Ukrainian culture, realized that it was necessary to create a place for rethinking lost identities. Thus, in 2023, the art residency “On the Threshold. Mystery of Will” was born.
Why the Dnieper Rapids?
- It is the birthplace of Ukrainian will, a symbol of Cossack independence.
- It is where Shevchenko realized the fate of Ukraine and its struggle.
- The Soviet authorities flooded the rapids to erase the memory of this place.
Among the participants of the residency were Ukrainian artists who, for two weeks, created visual representations of the hidden meanings in Shevchenko’s poetry. Their works became part of a documentary film that will be shown at the event in Haifa.
Event Program
1. Screening of the documentary film about the art residency “On the Threshold. Mystery of Will”
The film tells the story of how Ukrainian artists attempted to visualize the hidden meanings of Shevchenko’s poetry through painting and exploration of natural landscapes.
Main topics of the film:
- Why The Dnieper Rapids were important for Shevchenko and Ukrainian culture.
- How the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union tried to erase the memory of the Cossack past.
- How contemporary art helps revive national identity.
2. Zoom meeting and online lecture by Svitlana Kulbashna: “Empty Research of Ukrainian Meanings”
Main topics of the lecture:
- Why Zaporizhzhia is the heart of Ukrainian will.
- How Russian empires tried to erase Ukrainian identity.
- Why art and culture are the main weapon against propaganda.
Quote by Svitlana Kulbashna:
“The war for meanings continues, and it is the love for the ‘own’ – land, culture, history – that is the spear capable of overcoming the all-consuming imperial essence and its narratives.”
Why is this interesting not only to Ukrainians?
- Historical memory and the fight for identity – universal questions that concern all peoples who have gone through imperial oppression.
- How does art influence society? The film and lecture will show how culture becomes a weapon in the fight for freedom.
- Zaporizhzhia and the Dnieper Rapids – an important natural and historical phenomenon, interesting not only to Ukrainians but also to researchers of history and ethnography.
- Parallels with Jewish history – in Israel, many understand what it means to defend their culture and the memory of ancestors, facing aggression and attempts to erase national identity.
Registration for the event
- Get to know Shevchenko through modern research.
- Watch the unique film about the Dnieper Rapids.
- Listen to Svitlana Kulbashna’s lecture on the role of Zaporizhzhia in Ukrainian identity.
- Participate in the online discussion.
Registration link: Sign Up
Conclusion
“On the Threshold. Mystery of Will” is not just a cultural event. It is an attempt to return lost meanings, restore generational connections, and show that the history of Ukraine is the history of the struggle for freedom.
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