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When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, shockwaves reverberated outside the martyred nation, reaching capitals throughout the European Union and beyond. “What if it were us?” asked people in the bloc, watching in horror as Russian missiles and drones rained down on Ukraine and killed civilians.
Yet as the war dragged on, Ukrainian artists and intellectuals struggled to convey the full extent of the cultural massacre that was taking place to residents in EU countries. Ukraine had long stood in the shadow of Soviet and Russian domination, and most EU residents were unaware of its spiritual and artistic achievements.
“When the full-scale invasion began, we realised in France that Ukraine was in a grey zone, that the country didn’t exactly have a place in our mental maps, and that there was a gap,” said the Ukraine Season’s co-curator Francky Blandeau, from the French Institute.
To close the gap, France has launched the Ukraine Season, a series of cultural events from December 1, 2025, to March 30, 2026. The festival aims to make audiences discover what Blandeau calls “the crazy vitality of creation in Ukraine”.
Many reasons account for the “effervescence” of the artistic offering, said Blandeau, but “maybe it’s simply because until now, the institutional framework wasn’t exactly in place”. In other words, “Ukrainian artists had to get by on their own, and it gave them an exceptional margin for creation.”
Ukrainian artists occupy an important space in society today. Their culture stands out in “the extent to which it applies to us, Europeans”, said Blandeau. “When artists and authors talk about themselves, they are talking about us [EU residents]. They are perfectly conscious of this, and for a long time. We are less aware because we haven’t lived through the same history, or because we weren’t in similar geographic positions.”
The season “is going to be the beginning of something, of a shared adventure in Europe”, said Blandeau. It’s impossible in this context not to think of Voltaire’s letter to Helvétius, in which he said: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
As Czech author Milan Kundera wrote in his groundbreaking essay “A Kidnapped West”: “Any repression of an opinion, including the brutal repression of false opinions, goes against the truth, the truth that can only be found in confronting free and equal opinions”. The Ukraine Season will offer a space for this confrontation of ideas, while showcasing the plurality of voices that compose modern Ukrainian culture. FRANCE 24 covers the highlights of the event here:
Debate: Théâtre de la Concorde, Paris
Audiences can attend a series of debates dedicated to the resilience of Ukrainian civil society. Ukrainian representatives will talk about the resistance and the mobilisation of this society, Blandeau said.
“From Oleksandra Matviichuk, co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, who will talk about international justice, to Maksym Butkevych, a major Ukrainian resistance figure who was once imprisoned in Russia and now fights for human rights in Ukraine, we are going to try to show this vitality of the Ukrainian civil society in this first event.”
“Ukraine, the wind of liberty” will be at the Théâtre de la Concorde in Paris from December 10 to 13.
Cinema: Oleksandr Dovjenko at La cinémathèque française
A retrospective will allow audiences to discover Oleksandr Dovjenko, a leading light of Ukrainian cinema, at La cinémathèque française. “His dense and magnificent repertory inspired many filmmakers in Ukraine and around the world,” Blandeau said.
Learn more about Oleksandr Dovjenko at La Cinémathèque française in Paris from January 23 to 31.
Classical music: A musical homage to the spirit of the Ukrainian people
A classical music concert will take place later in the season at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Ukrainian composers, including Lesya Dychko, Hanna Havrylets, Victoria Poleva, Valentyn Sylvestrov, the Kyiv choir and organists Iryna Kalynovska and Quentin Guérillot will play music ranging from Ukrainian folklore to contemporary experimentation.
“The Ukrainian soul: a musical homage to the spirit of the Ukrainian people” will be at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis on March 26.
Debate: ‘Repairing the living’- the challenge of health in Ukraine
A debate between Ukrainian and French participants on mental and physical health in Ukraine will take place in January. “Many French companies and start-ups are involved in the field of health. It’s a fascinating – and of course tragic – subject,” Blandeau said. The new documentary by Didier Cros, “The Faces of War” (Zadig Productions), will be presented on the first evening in the France Télévisions auditorium. The film follows a French team, led by the surgeon Chloé Bertolus, at the Vynnyky medical centre, where doctors treat patients mutilated by war.
“Repairing the living”- the challenge of health in Ukraine will be at the France Télévisions auditorium and the city hall in the 15th arrondissement (district) of Paris on January 19 and 20.
Meetings and public events: ‘Culture counterattacks!”
Ukrainian cultural representatives from Mystetskyi Arsenal and the Yermilov Centre of Kharkiv (a city which has been bombed daily since the beginning of the war) will meet with their French and EU counterparts to discuss Ukrainian culture. Public debates, literary discussions, the documentary “BаГа неба” (The Weight of the Sky) and a photo exhibition on the markets of Odessa are all on the agenda.
“Culture counterattacks!”- Professional and public events will be at the Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille from January 28 to February 1.
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