EUNIC is committed to mainstreaming fair collaboration and advancing the decolonisation of cultural relations. Building on the work of our Fair Collaboration project and a previous Knowledge Sharing Workshop, co-organised with DutchCulture, on Decolonising Cultural Relations, we are continuing the conversation in our latest online Knowledge Sharing Workshop 'Developing Decolonial Perspectives and Practices on Ukraine's Cultural Heritage'.

On 3 December 2024, colleagues from across the EUNIC network and beyond joined this online workshop to explore both theoretical and practical aspects of decolonialism. The event specifically focused on decoloniality in the context of Ukraine, examining the long history and impact of Russian colonialism on Ukrainian arts and culture. It also explored how decolonial perspectives and practices could be applied in other regions, such as Central-Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Tetyana Filevska, Creative Director, and Anastasiia Manuliak, Head of Visual Arts at the Ukrainian Institute, presented their forthcoming practical guide to decolonisation for museums. The guide aims to help specialists and non-specialists alike identify and describe Ukrainian cultural heritage appropriately. The project is being developed through an international partnership project, led by the Ukrainian Institute and developed in collaboration with the Museums Association (MA), the United Kingdom and Ukraine National Committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM UK , ICOM Ukraine), and supported by the British Council. The guide is set to launch in 2025 and promises to be a precise and highly-practical resource, including several case studies on contextualising Ukrainian history and cultural heritage.

The project is being developed through an international partnership project, led by the Ukrainian Institute and developed in collaboration with the Museums Association (MA) , the United Kingdom and Ukraine National Committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM UK , ICOM Ukraine ), and supported by the British Council.

Until recently, the decolonial lens has not been applied to our part of the world... Ukraine, its culture, and its history have therefore remained a blind spot to the world. Before 2022, Ukraine was primarily viewed through a Moscow-centric lens, which erased Ukrainian culture from history. This lack of a decolonial approach allowed Ukrainian arts and culture to fall through the cracks, often misidentified, misrepresented and overlooked.

Tetyana Filevska, Creative Director, Ukrainian Institute

Lucy Zoria, Head of Arts at British Council Ukraine, shared insights on decolonising Ukrainian cultural heritage from an international perspective. She spoke about the work of the British Council supporting the development of the new decolonisation guide, and how frameworks from different contexts can be adapted to expand decoloniality dialogue. She also highlighted how the guide could inspire further initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe and support cultures with similar experiences of colonialism.

We have an organisational commitment to engaging with and learning from colonial history... we are working with partners across the globe to engage in decolonial thinking, and we use that to inform the way we work and engage with the power structures in which we exist and through which knowledge is consumed, generated, and shared.

Lucy Zoria, Head of Arts, British Council Kyiv

The Ukrainian Institute noted that work on the guide began over two years ago. With this in mind, they issued a clear call to action, strongly encouraging participants to embark on their own decoloniality journeys as soon as possible. Work has already started on similar guides in the Baltic states, showcasing how these practices can be adapted and applied to other local contexts in regions worldwide.

The work of adopting decolonial thinking can be started but never finished... this is a continuous journey.

Tetyana Filevska, Creative Director, Ukrainian Institute

Colleagues from the Ukrainian Institute invite those interested in partnerships to get in touch.

Subscribe for updates on the Ukrainian Institute guide here.

Presentations from the workshops can be found here.