“It is, above all, intellectuals who form the image of Ukraine”

“Speak that I may see you.” These well-known words of Socrates seem to be appropriate in the context of a cultural dialogue between Ukraine and Europe. As Ukraine is silent, Europe cannot see it. On the other hand, it is important what Oxana Pachlovska said: Europe understands the language of institutions. The state is still to invent effective instruments to present Ukrainian culture in European countries (although it has been repeatedly stressed that they are in bad need), so it is small wonder that European knowledge of Ukraine is superficial and mythologized.

Oleksii Tolkachov, president of the European Association of Ukrainians, suggested the other day establishing Hryhorii Skovoroda Ukrainian cultural centers in EU countries. The idea itself, as well as the figure of Skovoroda, whose views had outpaced the philosophical thought of Europe, is extremely opportune, but, again, it is a private initiative.

“We are planning to establish cultural, educational, and tourist centers of Ukraine in foreign countries, and we expect this concept to turn into a self-supporting and self-sufficient public project,” Oleksii TOLKACHOV told The Day, “because I doubt that the state will pay attention to this project, let alone give some money. There are a lot of Ukrainian tourist companies that do not mind presenting Ukraine and inviting tourists from Europe, but there are practically no centers in the EU today, which could help Ukrainian agencies to attract European tourists. We have entered into negotiations with Ukrainian travel companies on rendering assistance in the establishment of Ukrainian cultural centers and we can see great interest on their part. So it is possible to find minimum funding for at least ten centers of this kind. Our project also has another – cultural – aspect. Here we have also seen that many Ukrainian photographers, artists, and fashion designers are practically deprived of the possibility to make themselves known in Europe. They cannot travel and present their art as Ukrainian because of frequent organizational problems or the banal lack of exhibition grounds. They have to display Ukrainian culture on the commercial grounds of other countries. Therefore, Ukrainian cultural centers will be also able to perform the function of exhibition halls and, after all, the nuclei of Ukrainian cultural events. We hope sponsors will back our project, for more and more Ukrainian businesspeople become aware that they will have to do many things that the state is supposed to do by themselves and at their own expense. And we are inspired by a successful celebration of the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian independence in Brussels. We would also like to use these centers to popularize the philosophical legacy of Hryhorii Skovoroda, which is of worldwide importance but remains almost unknown in Europe. We want to correct this flaw and present Ukraine as one of the countries that launched the European philosophical thought.”

Yet there is, unfortunately, no question of a full-fledged presentation of the European element of Ukrainian culture, large-scale translations of the works of Ukrainian writers and historians, or systemic research.

“The deep-seated scholarly and educational potential is so powerful that it cannot be realized by non-governmental resources only,” Tolkachov says. “We have seen that, for example, Sovoroda’s works were not translated into European languages. Whatever scholarly heritage we may have, it remains inaccessible to Europeans. It is impossible to change the situation without governmental support. The state should draw up scholarly programs aimed at making the Ukrainians cognize themselves and popularizing our culture in European languages. No matter how hard we try to make joint civic efforts, they will never replace the role of the state in carrying out high-profile strategic programs.”

On the other hand, while the state and its bureaucratic machine cannot even grasp the necessity of this, it is small efforts that are saving the situation. In Tolkachov’s opinion, we should not count on state help in the nearest future. On paper, Ukrainian cultural centers are already functioning at embassies, but they open just a few times in a year at best to meet the diaspora. As long as diplomatic missions are in fact a reward for cronies, Ukraine will remain unexplained and incomprehensible for Europe.

“The establishment of such institutions may provide an impulse for the state,” says Myroslav POPOVYCH, director of the Institute of Philosophy at Ukraine’s National Academy of Science. “I fully welcome this initiative, but it is the state that ought to allocate funds to put it into practice. We are in bad need of joint conferences for our and European academics, we should invite foreigners to Ukraine. But these high-profile projects are to be carried out with active participation of the state. The Institute of Philosophy has held four workshops this year with present-day French thinkers. They visited us at their country’s expense. We could send to France some interesting people who speak foreign languages, but the institute is too cash-strapped to do so. At the same time, I am sure the necessary funds can and must be found among the budget expenditure items even during a crisis. What actually forms the image of Ukraine is not political events but what the Ukrainian intellectual elite can say about themselves.”

As long as Europe can hear the voices of our intellectuals just occasionally, the Ukrainian state mechanism cannot lay claim to being mature and self-sufficient.