Ukraine shows why culture must be defended

For Ukrainians, culture is something that must be defended. Russia’s war has made that clear, while Swedes can more easily take language, literature and cultural heritage for granted.

That contrast framed a discussion at the Timbro publishing house in Stockholm on Ukraine’s Independence Day on Aug. 24, held during the war and focused on Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s national poet. Timbro has published the first Swedish collection of his works, titled “Poems.”

Shevchenko was born a serf in the village of Moryntsi, about 200 kilometres from Kyiv. He trained as an artist in St. Petersburg and gained his freedom from serfdom in 1838 before beginning to write poetry. His commitment to the Ukrainian nation and sharp criticism of the tsarist regime led to exile in 1847. Authorities then banned him from writing and painting, a prohibition he broke.

“

Give me a grave, then rise and shatter whatever chains you.

His poetry about the Ukrainian nation and resistance to Russian imperialism makes him as relevant today as he was in his own time. The poem “Testament,” written in 1845, has been particularly important to many Ukrainians. His first book, “Kobzar,” published in 1840, helped standardize written Ukrainian and made his work central to Ukrainian identity. Young Ukrainian scouts in Sweden still organize activities about his life and, through it, the history of Ukraine.

The article links Shevchenko’s experience to continuing efforts to control Ukrainian language and culture. The documentary “War on Art” depicts attacks at the start of Russia’s invasion, including strikes on museums in Kharkiv and Kyiv. Volunteers and museum workers moved 12,000 artefacts in 10 days to prevent their destruction. “Everyone who lives in a peaceful country cannot understand us, because they cannot imagine what a real war is,” a cultural worker says in the film. Swedish Ambassador Svitlana Zalishchuk also stressed the value of free cultural expression at the Stockholm discussion.

“

Everyone who lives in a peaceful country cannot understand us, because they cannot imagine what a real war is.