Art as weapon and target: ARTE produces documentary on Russia’s war against Ukrainian culture

“Art, a weapon in times of war”, directed by Philipp Kohlhöfer, illustrates how Ukrainian artists defend their culture, which Moscow seeks to eliminate, Insight News reports.

Ukraine surprised the whole world with the astounding resistance of its people to Russian aggression. In this tragic context, art has taken on a new mission: more than ever, Ukrainian culture has become vital, all the more so as Russia seeks to deny the very existence of the Ukrainian nation, ARTE describes the documentary.

The Russian aggressors target not only residential buildings and infrastructure but also museums, theaters, and performance venues. Artists from all over Ukraine are fervent in their desire to retaliate through their works.

The movie portrays Ukrainian artists who replaced their brushes and musical instruments with firearms and surveillance drones.

Ukrainian actors, musicians, singers, and painters who joined the army and artists fighting the war on the cultural front against Russian assault were filmed by director Philipp Kohlhöfer.

The film features Olena Zelenska, Andrii Khlyvniuk, and Taras Topolia

Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, appears in the documentary and talks about the war's early days and how it affected Ukrainians' daily lives.

The prominent Ukrainian painter, artist, and designer Andriy Yermolenko converts his emotions into stunning depictions of Ukrainian culture and the Russia-Ukraine war. With these pieces of art, the painter supports the military by transferring sales proceeds to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Many artists followed him, using their artwork to describe the Russian war and its devastating effects for larger audiences abroad. The money raised also helps them assist the army, which protects the nation from the ruthless Kremlin’s onslaught on Ukraine.

BoomBox's vocalist and lyricist, Andrii Khlyvniuk, is also featured in the movie. The Ukrainian musician joined the Territorial Defense Forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Soon after, he created a recording of "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow," a Ukrainian folk song, which quickly went viral on social media. This time, the ARTE movie once again introduces this song to the world.

The film also tells the story of Taras Topolia, a soloist of the famous Ukrainian Antitila band, the youth ambassador for UNICEF in Ukraine, and a volunteer fighter of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine.

The actress Vira Lebedynska shared her heartbreaking memories because she was present when Russian forces bombarded and demolished the Mariupol theater. These horrifying images, which have been widely distributed, are presented from a very personal angle.

Along with other people, the ARTE movie also stars Ukrainian artist Mykhaylo Reva and Moisei Bondarenko, a violinist, composer and serviceman of the Ukrainian army.

Cultural aspect of Russia’s war against Ukraine

The film's author highlights the cultural component of Russia's war, since Moscow's assault targets both Ukrainian cultural venues and Ukrainian culture itself. It explores the catastrophic results, including how bombings devastated landmarks, theaters, and museums.

Ewa Sulek, a historian and expert on the history of culture and art from the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, explains the cultural element of the Russia-Ukraine war. She underlines that while Moscow tries to deny it, Ukrainian culture has much older traditions than Russian culture. In fact, the Russian government makes an effort to deny Ukrainian culture even existing while promoting its war propaganda through Russian musicians and artists, including at events in Europe.

Devastating effects of Russia's invasion on Ukrainian cultural heritage

Russia’s war against Ukraine, the ongoing fighting and missile attacks, devastated churches, temples, theaters, libraries, and other cultural sites. 

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, Russia purposefully chooses these targets to achieve its primary goal – to destroy the centers of Ukrainian culture, Euronews reports. The ministry documented 800 hundreds of Russian war crimes against Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

As of 22 February 2023, UNESCO has verified damage to 241 sites since 24 February 2022 – 106 religious sites, 18 museums, 86 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 19 monuments, 12 libraries.

In one of the armed invaders’ mass looting of Ukrainian cultural heritage, Russian forces looted Kherson’s local history museum and art gallery before being forced to flee the city in early November 2022.

Numerous international media reports (ABC News, Politico, Bloomberg, New York Times) say that “culture is on the frontlines” and that Putin “seeks not only to control Ukrainian territory but to erase Ukrainian culture and identity.” The cultural battleground is not just symbolic, experts say.