{"id":24057,"date":"2024-04-19T17:35:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T09:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=24057"},"modified":"2024-08-22T12:14:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T04:14:30","slug":"cultural-heritage-sites-under-attack-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2024\/04\/cultural-heritage-sites-under-attack-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Heritage Sites under attack in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Charley Ho, Daniel Paek and Roy Ng<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Russia stops fighting, there will be no war. If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no Ukraine,\u201d Natalia Gsch\u00f6pf, a Ukrainian artist, who has been living for six years in Hong Kong says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her comments come as the European Union hosted a seminar to express support for and solidarity with the people of Ukraine, marking the second anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2014, Russia has initiated conflicts by invading and subsequently annexing the Crimean Peninsula, a sovereign territory of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn October 2014, one of my very close friends lost his life in the battle. Since then, there have been so many names,\u201d Gsch\u00f6pf says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian artist shares that many cultural sites have been the main targets in recent attacks launched by Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Natalia Gsch\u00f6pf holds an art workshop. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussia has been targeting our cultural sites and trying to kill our heritage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 342 cultural sites in Ukraine have been destroyed including 127 religious sites, 150 buildings of historical and artistic interest, 31 museums, 19 monuments, 14 libraries, and 1 archive, according to the UNESCO official report published in February 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny of these destruction of culture and artifacts hurts. It is disheartening to witness all the physical cultures being set on fire by missiles,\u201d the craftsmanship artist says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite the destruction of physical cultural sites, I believe that Ukrainian cultures will continue to survive through Ukrainian artists\u2019 efforts to promote them worldwide,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gsch\u00f6pf has hosted workshops in London, Berlin, and now regularly in Hong Kong to promote traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs \u2013 Pysanky to keep Ukrainian culture alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ukrainian Easter eggs made in a workshop held by Gsch\u00f6pf.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Ukrainian Easter egg workshop is like a meditation. Surrounded by many candles and mesmerized by patterns, we engage and connect with each other during the sessions,\u201d Gsch\u00f6pf says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can connect with people from all walks of life through these workshops and let more people know about Ukraine\u2026 I hope that Russia will show less aggression towards cultural heritage,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Ukrainian artist, Nazar Tabachyshyn, who is also living in Hong Kong shares Gsch\u00f6pf\u2019s thoughts on keeping the world informed about the war outside Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tabachyshyn plays the accordion. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Russia-Ukraine war is very intense right now and there have been many losses. Russians occupy a huge city on the east side of Ukraine,\u201d the accordion musician says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never know when you\u2019re going to survive or whether you\u2019re going to wake up but people have already got used to that kind of life,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tabachyshyn says that his friends and family in Ukraine are fighting the war in their own different ways. Some of them are fighting at the frontline, and some other musicians are holding concerts to fundraise for the Ukrainian army. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople try to spread songs and increase their voices not only in Ukraine but to the world. Some are holding concerts and doing music tours around the world,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian musician, who has been playing accordion since he was five, is committed to arousing awareness of the war to his audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to put some messages into the music I make\u2026, that is to be heard, to be listened to, and make people question,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want the end of the war. Russians need to pay a lot and justice should be there after all, but I am not sure how we can get there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Gnocchi, head of the European Union (EU) Office to Hong Kong and Macao, says the EU stands for Ukraine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe EU has committed a further 50 billion Euros to Ukraine to help funding. Despite the continuing difficulties, additional support for Ukraine is predictable, and these steps are playing very important roles. We will support Ukraine in any way possible,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gnocchi points out that the EU has started negotiations with Ukraine about the membership of the EU since December 2023, though the country has yet to become a member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a large Ukrainian community in Hong Kong. I hope there will be a lot of support through providing shelters for the refugees or any different kind of ways. This will really help Ukraine,\u201d he adds.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Charley Ho, Daniel Paek and Roy Ng \u201cIf Russia stops fighting, there will be no war. If Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no Ukraine,\u201d Natalia Gsch\u00f6pf, a Ukrainian artist, who has been living for six years in Hong Kong says.  Her comments come as the European Union hosted a seminar to express support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2203,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2024","category-our-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24057"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24101,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057\/revisions\/24101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}