Meeting with Doctor of Arts, Professor, UNESCO Artist for Peace Herman Makarenko
On 17 February, a meeting was held with Herman Makarenko, Doctor of Arts, Professor, UNESCO Artist for Peace.
‘What can unite people? Is it the economy? Politics? The answer to this question is culture.’ The lecture began with these words. The meeting was attended by civil servants, professors of the Serhiy Konoval Department of Political Science and Philosophy of the Bohdan Havrylyshyn Institute of International Relations of WUNU, students and representatives of the local government.
Herman Makarenko spoke about the peculiarities of cooperation with UNESCO on the preservation, development and dissemination of Ukrainian culture in the world. Special attention was paid to the role of music in the cultural struggle. He gave numerous examples of how music unites Ukraine with European and global partners. In particular, he mentioned the Kyiv Classical Orchestra's concert performances in European venues, including the ‘Concert for Peace’, which left a strong impression on international partners, and the ‘Concert of Gratitude to the World's Doctors’, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to restore the cultural heritage that was destroyed or appropriated by Russia were also noted. Thanks to cooperation with UNESCO, Ukraine was able to find the sheet music for the opera Creontus by Ukrainian composer Dmytro Bortnyansky in the Portuguese archives, which had been considered lost.
The meeting attendees had the opportunity to ask many questions about the changes that should be introduced in international organisations, including UNESCO, to make their work on cultural heritage preservation more effective. They also discussed the music of victory and Ukraine's iconic cultural projects with its neighbours.
This meeting allowed all those present to better understand the breadth of Ukrainian culture and its important role in shaping international relations and communication between peoples.
