Pussy Riot, Femen storm Russian pavilion at Venice Biennale
Police on the premises tackled members from the feminist protest groups who were able to make it inside the building, according to a joint press release.
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Kate Tsurkan
Culture ReporterKate Tsurkan is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent who writes mostly about culture-related topics. Her newsletter Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan, which focuses specifically on Ukrainian culture, is published weekly by the Kyiv Independent and is partially supported by a generous grant from the Nadia Sophie Seiler Fund. Kate co-translated Oleh Sentsov’s “Diary of a Hunger Striker,” Myroslav Laiuk’s “Bakhmut,” Andriy Lyubka’s “War from the Rear,” and Khrystia Vengryniuk’s “Long Eyes,” among other books. Some of her previous writing and translations have appeared in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harpers, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of Apofenie Magazine and, in addition to Ukrainian and Russian, also knows French.
Articles
Ukraine condemns Egypt for allowing transit of stolen grain
"Ukraine is a country that has played the role of a reliable food security guarantor for Egypt for many years — and we don't understand why Egyptian partners pay us back by continuing to accept stolen Ukrainian grain," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.
Ukraine's culture minister on why culture 'needs KPIs' to succeed
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country's culture has finally received the attention it had previously lacked.
But Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna aims for more than mere survival — she envisions a cultural sphere that thrives and becomes a major economic driver for Ukraine.
In a conversation with the Kyiv Independent, Berezhna explains why culture needs measurable goals to succeed both nationally and internationally, how her experience in law, economics, and go
UK sanctions Russian individuals, entities responsible for exploiting migrants in its war effort
"The practice of exploiting vulnerable people to prop up Russia’s failing and illegal war in Ukraine is barbaric," U.K. Sanctions Minister Stephen Doughty said.
Russian archaeologist freed in US-brokered prisoner exchange vows to return to occupied Crimea
In his interview with Russian state-controlled media, Butyagin also thanked the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and other government bodies for their efforts to secure his release.
Venice Art Biennale's jury resigns in protest over Russian, Israeli presence just days before festival starts
The jury's resignation comes just one day after the European Union's culture commissioner announced that he would boycott the Venice Art Biennale over Russia's presence.
Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova on Navalny, Russian culture, and supporting Ukraine’s military
“We don't just oppose Putin anymore, we're at war with him,” Nadya Tolokonnikova told the Kyiv Independent during a meeting in Kyiv. “To me, (saying) anything less bold is insufficient to meet the moment.”
Tolokonnikova has never shied away from speaking truth to power. As a founding member of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist and performance art collective, she quickly became a global symbol of creative resistance and unwavering defiance against authoritarianism in Russia.
She’s been using her
Ukraine decries release of Russian archaeologist in US-brokered prisoner swap
"It is evident that the Russian side will cynically use this political and legal episode to justify the occupation of Crimea and the exploitation of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territory by Russian citizens," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told media.
On the 40 year anniversary, here are 5 books to better understand Chornobyl nuclear disaster
On April 26, 1986, the explosion at Reactor No. 4 of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant forever changed the lives of millions in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
Although Communist authorities initially tried to suppress news of the disaster even within the Soviet Union, radioactive fallout was soon thereafter detected by neighboring European countries, and the entire world took notice. The catastrophe became a critical turning point, exposing the flaws in the Soviet system and hastening the Soviet
Gender-bending Bulgarian novel takes literature world by storm
In the shadow of Albania’s Accursed Mountains, where the centuries-old laws of Kanun dictate people’s fate, Bekija publicly renounces her womanhood to live socially as a man after her father is shot dead in a blood feud and her younger brother flees home.
This feverish dynamic is at the heart of Bulgarian author Rene Karabash’s novel “She Who Remains.” Now, thanks to Izidora Angel’s evocative and bold English translation — co-published by Sandorf Passage in the U.S. and Peirene in the U.K. and
EU sanctions Russian cultural figures involved with illegal archaeological excavations in occupied Crimea
Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage Museum, is sanctioned for the museum’s role under his leadership in illegal archaelogical excavations and the destruction of protected Ukrainian heritage sites in Crimea.
The adventures of Sofia Yablonska, fearless Ukrainian travel writer of the 1930s
Editor's Note: This story is part of the "Hidden Canon" – a special series celebrating Ukrainian classic literature and aiming to bring it to a wider international audience. The series is supported by the Ukrainian Institute.
The photographs featured in this article are shared with the permission of the Sofia Yablonska Foundation, which is tasked with preserving her legacy. All photographs are subject to copyright.
As the opium smoke curled around her in a dim-lit room in China, the writer
Ukraine pushing EU to impose visa bans on Russian pavilion members ahead of Venice Biennale
"We have imposed sanctions on those individuals, the Russian participants. And we are now raising the issue to ensure they are not granted visas. We very much hope that we will be heard... and expect that visas will not be issued," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Russia, North Korea hold ceremony for 'truly significant' 5 kilometer bridge
According to the Transport Ministry, the new bridge for cars and trucks will be the first of its kind linking Russia and North Korea by land.
New biography on author Mikhail Bulgakov labeled under 'drug propaganda' law in Russia
Russia’s book market finds itself under mounting strain as the government steadily expands its censorship regime.
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