It’s been more than a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 10 million people have fled their homes due to fighting, and at least a thousand civilians were killed - although the number can be much higher.
Most of the news for the past few days has focused on military and political issues, but there is a force in the Ukrainian folk that cannot be ignored, that is, people in the art and literature circles who continue to speak out.
In the imagination, artists have nothing to do with fighting on the battlefield, but from the first day of the war, Ukrainian artists participated in the battle in various forms, whether through creation, volunteering, or directly joining the army.
Writers, from desk to field
“I am constantly working,” Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan told Crossing, “I am moving, helping, connecting people. There is always something that needs to be done whether it’s coordinating medicines, humanitarian aid, contacts, transport, or something else. We are all like ants now.”
Zhadan helps with aid distribution, raises funds for the army, and works in the volunteer center which coordinates Kharkiv’s humanitarian help.
Just looking at this dizzy middle-aged man, it's hard to imagine that he is one of the most important contemporary Ukrainian writers.
Zadan was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and is an award-winning, internationally renowned author of 12 collections of Ukrainian poetry and 7 novels. He has been involved in the "Orange Revolution" of the social movement since he was a student, has been writing since the 1990s, and his poems are credited with revolutionizing the style of Ukrainian poetry - making them less sentimental.
One of the books, Voroshilovgrad (the name of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine during Soviet rule), tells the story of a young man named Hermann who leaves his hometown but must return to protect what belongs to him. The book had an important impact on Ukrainian society.
Originally from Kharkiv, a city in Eastern Ukraine that was under heavy Russian bombardment. The writer remains in his home city where he volunteers. And Zhadan is also actively writing for Western media to raise awareness of the situation.
Vakhtang Kipiani is another famous writer and journalist volunteering for the war effort. Kipiani is known for his books on Ukraine’s recent history. He investigated Ukraine’s resistance movements during the twentieth century and managed a media platform “Istorychna Pravda” (Historical Truth) that published historical pieces. His existence has played a great role in summoning the memory of Ukrainian social groups and understanding their own history.
At this moment, Chipiani, who is good at writing, put down his pen and joined local defense forces to fundraise and deliver weaponry and aid to them.
“We have to defend Ukraine, and not flee the country,” he said, “The government gives us weapons for that.”
Kipiani also praised other volunteers for helping find gear, medicines, and other supplies for the army because they deliver everything to the fighters very quickly.
First civilian, woman to address EU leader
Other writers decided to use their art as a weapon. Among them is Oksana Zabuzhko, an award-winning poet and author.
According to a 2006 poll, Zabzko's novel "Field Work in Ukrainian Sex" was considered the most influential book in Ukrainian society in the 15 years of independence.
Zabuzhko went on tour across European countries to speak at different art and political institutions about the war in Ukraine. She became the first woman who is not a citizen of the EU and not a government official to speak at the European Parliament. There, she encouraged EU leaders to provide more help to Ukraine and described the horrors of the Russian invasion.
“I wanted to show the Western politicians how they could speak about the war,” she said, “I can say that some of my messages came across, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
After her speech, Zabuzhko went on to Germany and Poland to speak with other artists, writers, and civil society and share first-hand experiences of the war in Ukraine.
“I have been telling them stories of my family fleeing the fighting and experiencing the war,” she says.
Her colleague, Olesya Yaremchuk, has also resumed writing to spread the word about the situation in Ukraine. Yaremchuk is an award-winning author known for her non-fiction book on ethnic minorities which strive in Ukraine. The book, “Our Others”, is considered an essential read for those who want to understand the country. It focuses on Ukrainian diversity and co-existence.
It turns out that there are 14 ethnic minorities in Ukraine, and Yarychak's literary report combines academic research to describe how different groups arrived in Ukraine and how they lived in the country. “Our Others” is widely regarded as a chronicle of voluntary or forced migration from Ukraine.
Fluent in German, Yaremchuk published several reportages in German media that highlight the struggle of the Ukrainian people and bring humanity to those affected by the war.
“I have a linguistic paralysis. I can't talk about war because every word seems too banal,” Yaremchuk says, “But I have to.”
“What is happening in Ukraine right now is inhumane,” she continues, “The Russians bomb everything and everyone - whether it's a military target or a simple residential house. I find it unbearable that all this is funded, among other things, through buying Russian gas.” These words also hinted at her resentment towards Europe.
Yaremchuk says she will continue reporting on the war for foreign audiences however hard it may be.
Musician, sing our song
Ukrainian musicians also joined the war.
Andriy Khlyvniuk is a leader of the rock band “Boombox”, well-known in Ukraine and beyond. He is now serving in the capital, Kyiv, after his family evacuated to Western Ukraine. He also sang a Ukrainian folk song " Oh, the rose guelder in the meadow ", which aroused people's national emotions.
“I am in the fire support division of Kyiv’s patrol police,” he says, “I am one of the fighters of the rapid response armored group.”
Khlyvniuk joined the force as soon as the war started.
“I knew what to do, and everything was clear to me,” he explains, “We were getting ready for this for the last eight years although, of course, we did not believe the war until it happened.”
The musician is referring to the fact that in 2014, Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in the South of Ukraine. It also backed pro-Kremlin separatists in Eastern Ukraine for eight years and provided them with weaponry and soldiers.
“I am very proud of fellow Ukrainians who volunteered to fight,” the man says, “I saw long queues of people waiting to get a gun and join the resistance. And I am very grateful to volunteers who work non-stop, so we have things to eat, things to wear, and where to shower.”
Instead of putting his halo on the artist, he chose to use more space to thank everyone who volunteered in the field.
Turn on the TV and you'll see Yuliya Sanina, a lead singer of the band The Hardkiss, decided to use her voice to raise funds for Ukrainian civilians. She has been collecting money since the start of the war.
“On March 27, I will join a two-hour-long TV marathon “Save Ukraine”, which will be broadcasted by nearly twenty channels around the globe,” the woman says, “During the stream, artists, musicians, thought leaders, actors, volunteers from everywhere will perform to support Ukraine.”
Sanina says she wants to keep the momentum going so people across the world don’t forget about the war taking place in her country.
“We are not helpless, and our Armed Forces showed that,” she says, “But we still need help.”
A victory for Ukraine
Actors and directors have never been absent from this war. Among them – was Oleh Sentsov, an award-winning director, who was in Russian captivity for five years.
Sentsov is originally from Crimea, a peninsula Russia annexed in 2014. The moviemaker was in his home region when Russian forces kidnapped him and illegally transported him to Russia. There, he was accused of espionage and given a jail sentence.
Sentsov’s illegal imprisonment received an international outcry. He was awarded the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, and various world leaders demanded his immediate release. Sentsov announced a hunger strike in 2018. In 2019, he was exchanged for Russian military criminals and returned to his home country.
Although he was sent back to Ukraine in 2019 for exchanging prisoners with Russia, Shansov, who inexplicably became a political prisoner, will not be exchanged for his suffering in prison (even an intermittent hunger strike for 145 days). However, during his time in the Russian prison, he completed the film Numbers by correspondence with another director partner, which was later screened at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020.
The artist joined Ukraine’s Armed Forces right after the invasion.
“This war is like a gangrene: it has been with us for eight years, eating us alive,” the director says, “I believe in our victory, and I know that it is becoming more and more real.”
The war in Ukraine has also inspired a lot of songs and other forms of art.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture is now collecting war poetry and plans to publish the best works. In addition, it is collecting visual pieces and stories from Ukrainian adults and children as a way to preserve national memory.
Whether the war can be won is still unknown, but If the strength of the national sentiment of the Ukrainians is used as an indicator, victory is indeed certain.
*For the Chinese version please check: 【基輔現場】「關於戰爭的詞彙都太陳腔濫調，但我會繼續寫下去。」──烏克蘭藝文界如何抗戰？
Editor: Sylvia Meng Hsin Tien
