Olexiy Taraban: Culture in Lviv during wartime: what can be done in 2025.

The year 2025 will be challenging for local self-government for various reasons – war, budget cuts, and a shortage of personnel across all sectors of city life. However, even under the current conditions, we plan to do our utmost. I would like to briefly highlight the cultural directions for the city in 2025.

Priorities

A key priority is supporting the military, veterans, and engaging with them.

The second priority is the youth sector, as Lviv celebrates its status as the Youth Capital of Europe this year. Some projects are already starting to be implemented, while others will be announced later.

Another challenge for the city is competing in the finals of the contest for the title "European Capital of Culture 2030."

The third direction is informal education in the field of culture, as we currently feel a significant need for qualified specialists and understand the necessity to engage and train them. Thus, we will begin working with both school students and university students to demonstrate how specialties such as organizational management and social management can be connected to culture, allowing future professionals to realize themselves in this area. We will also focus on enhancing the expertise of cultural practitioners so that our institutions can develop and have a visionary outlook for the future.

Infrastructure and Accessibility

We would very much like to complete the art school on Krychevsky Street, 61. This project has been ongoing for a while, but it is essential because there is a tremendous need for extracurricular artistic education in this area. Once this school opens, we will be able to relocate our school from the kindergarten facility where it has been operating for over 20 years. The school will meet all accessibility requirements. We hope to implement this project by the end of the year.

There are facilities that require improved accessibility – this year, the Lviv Academic House of Organ and Chamber Music will become fully accessible. Last year, an internal lift was installed for individuals who use wheelchairs, and this year we will enhance the accessibility of the main entrance to this institution. Additionally, the Lviv Academic Theater named after Lesya Ukrainka will have its small stage accessible starting February 1, featuring a lift and an entirely new amphitheater for audiences, making the venue not only accessible but also very comfortable. We also aim to make the large stage in Lesya's theater accessible by constructing an external lift that will provide access from the courtyard of Lesya Theater to the large stage. We have already begun preparatory work inside, as restrooms were built there in 2024, but the lift will help resolve accessibility issues and allow more people to enjoy the city's theater productions.

We also want to enhance accessibility features at the Sensoteca in Stryiskyi Park – we plan to modify the ramp, although the library is already accessible and has many visitors with visual impairments. The library has a printer that prints in Braille and offers numerous books.

At the Media Library on Muliarska Street, accessibility also needs improvement. This is a challenging task – to install a lift, as the main entrance has steep stairs. Therefore, we can manage this from the entrance of Lesya Ukrainka Library. In the future, this lift could be constructed to reach the 4th floor.

We are also developing a portfolio of changes for the libraries on Stryiska Street and Pid Holoskom Street. The library at Pid Holoskom Street, 22 will be dedicated to comics. Through comics, we can effectively depict events of the war, illustrating them not as a journalistic chronicle but giving them an artistic reflection. This is educational content. Comics can also be a great medium to tell individual stories of soldiers. The uacomix organization has already joined this project, and our partner will be the rehabilitation center "Nezlamni." The process of creating comics is seen as an additional rehabilitation opportunity through art.

The library at Stryiska Street, 79 will adopt a bibliotherapy concept, making it a center for rehabilitation through literature, allowing people to read and discuss books in a rehabilitative context. We plan to utilize writing functions as a form of rehabilitation. These methodologies have already been developed at the level of psychotherapists. Simultaneously, in collaboration with the NGO "Ukrainian Association of Cultural Studies – Lviv," we aim to create a reading park near the library as part of the international project Reeplai, to thematically connect the library and its surrounding space, with street elements and furniture that will closely link books and public space. There will be areas for lectures and outdoor meetings, as well as elements referencing literary characters and street games.

Museum of Modern Heroes

This is a large-scale project that will eventually be realized. The museum's name speaks for itself – we will discuss the Heroes of the independence era, starting from 1991. This museum will continue the narrative about Heroes from the establishment of independence, the Revolution of Dignity, and the Russian-Ukrainian war. We have a general understanding of what this museum will encompass, but discussing its structure while we are in a state of war, where every day alters our lives, is challenging. We are developing a concept for this space, which was previously the location of the "Dzyvyn" cinema, to become a communication space for the future museum. We are working on various temporary solutions. Next, we need to discuss this in the commission, followed by a public discussion with the community and announcing an architectural competition. This is quite a lengthy project. During this time, the space cannot remain empty. Naturally, communication with the community will begin at the site of the former "Dzyvyn" cinema. We are currently discussing the idea of a "temporary" object at this location, which would not require significant investments but could already fulfill an educational function. However, to make a final decision, we need to discuss many details with various stakeholders.

Literary Residence

This will be the Literary Residence named after the Kalynets family. We are developing a project for accessibility from the street, as the building was constructed nearly 100 years ago and requires unconventional solutions. We want the Literary Residence to not only await its renovation this year but to already be operational. There will be events and small literary coworking sessions where experienced writers will conduct workshops for young people on writing and offer consultations.

Memorial Museum of Solomiya Krushelnytska in Lviv

We plan to change the organization of space and exhibitions in the Solomiya Krushelnytska Museum starting February 2025, making new museum spaces accessible to visitors. This has become possible due to changes in the management approach of the museum – it is acquiring new meanings, attracting new visitors, and popularizing the figure of the incomparable Solomiya Krushelnytska.

Promotion of Libraries

What does this mean? It is not the person who goes to the library, but the library that goes to the person. There will be a series of literary events in public spaces, and we also plan to hold a book exchange festival "Book Square" in the summer, as it was quite successful in 2024, with over 5,000 books exchanged in one day. We understand that such festivals are essential for residents, as they provide opportunities to donate already read books, exchange them for new, often rare editions, participate in literary discussions, and find like-minded individuals. We plan to invite libraries to join the "Land of Poets" festival, which will enable city libraries to attract a new audience and meet new demands.

Support for Ukrainian-language Publishing

We want to reformulate the program. Previously, we recognized publishing houses that had already released products, and our libraries received winning books for their collections. Now, we want to modify the program to assist authors who have manuscripts or drafts and need support to publish them. This could include military authors, military themes, fiction, journalism, and children's literature. We have decided to abandon translated literature, as it is crucial to focus efforts on supporting Ukrainian authors at this time.

Support for Artistic and Exhibition Activities

This will mark the beginning of the implementation of a program that was adopted in Lviv last year. There will be a joint project involving the Department of Culture, the Academy of Arts, and the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life named after Klymentiy Sheptytsky. We will announce a competition for students specializing in "sculpture" to submit projects for sculptures that will later complement and decorate the public space in front of the Information and Educational Center.

We will have a lot of work not only in 2025 but also in the coming years in the cultural institutions of our affiliated communities. Traditionally, we will support community initiatives and will gladly collaborate with new artistic spaces that emerge in the city