A SPECIAL event is to be held at the Scottish Parliament this week to celebrate how Ukrainians are enriching the cultural life of Scotland.
The first event of its kind it will showcase how Ukrainians who have sought refuge in Scotland from the Russian invasion of their country are contributing to Scottish life.
The Light We Share will weave together exhibitions, moving testimonies and performances.
“As a Ukrainian living in Scotland, this event is deeply personal,” said Zhenya Dove, chair of the Culture Working Group in the Cross Party Group on Ukraine.
“We want to show that creativity can survive even the hardest journeys – that it can become a way to heal, to connect and to find belonging.
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“It’s a thank you to Scotland for its warm welcome and a celebration of the incredible talent Ukrainians brought here. Through every painting, film, song, and gesture, we’re saying – we are still here, and we are building beauty from everything we carried.”
The event is being sponsored by SNP MSP Colin Beattie who said it was an “honour”.
“This landmark event gives the Parliament an opportunity to celebrate how Ukrainians are now enriching the cultural life of Scotland,” he said.
Among those who will be present at the event is Polina Moshenska (below), an independent Ukrainian filmmaker based in Edinburgh, whose work features at international festivals.
Her notable recent film, Re-creations, delves into the experiences of the Ukrainian diaspora and the emotional struggles of young Ukrainian women living abroad during the war. It is described as an intimate exploration of identity, resilience and the search for belonging far from home.
Alongside her, Viktoria Bavykina, a Ukrainian curator, art critic, and sociologist of culture, brings her expertise in contemporary Ukrainian photography and political art to Scotland.
A co-founder of Ukrainian Photographies and co-curator of the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, she is now continuing her research as a British Council Fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Her work aims to build bridges between Scottish and Ukrainian photographic cultures.
In Wishaw, Kateryna Tsyvunova’s Tunnel of Friendship mural has transformed a grey pedestrian passage into a 16-metre celebration of unity, painted collaboratively by Ukrainians and Scots. What began as a gesture of gratitude has become a popular landmark and a permanent testament to shared humanity.
In the far north, Alona Patliarska has been making waves on Orkney’s art scene. Her award-winning short film, Savage Song, and her striking paintings have earned her international acclaim while inspiring her peers with her creativity and vision.
Around 30 Ukrainian students have joined the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since the start of the latest Russian invasion of their country in 2023 and on Wednesday at the Parliament theywill perform their interdisciplinary project Culture Code, a fusion of music and visual art.
The Abandoned Artists collective, another key participant on Wednesday, provides a vital platform for displaced Ukrainian creatives to rebuild, collaborate and share their voices within Scotland’s thriving contemporary art scene.
Among the artists and creators who have built new lives in Scotland is Oleksandra Novatska (pictured), an artist, curator, and educator whose contemporary botanical art bridges nature and culture.
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Since arriving in Scotland, Oleksandra has held solo exhibitions, joined national group shows and developed her own art courses.
In the world of fashion, Valeriya Semchuk has brought a distinctly Ukrainian sensibility to Scotland through her sustainable label Selera. Founded in 2020 in Ukraine and now rooted here, Scotland’s landscapes have deeply influenced her vision and her latest collection, SE TO BE, is inspired by the colours and textures around her.
Visual art is also serving as a link between communities. Natalia Babych, a ceramic artist working in porcelain, has rebuilt her creative practice in Edinburgh, exhibiting at Leith Makers Gallery and Custom House while offering workshops that unite Ukrainian and Scottish makers.
Olha Nosova-Yeliseeva, founder of Olya Kivlin CONCEPT and an art educator with Perth and Kinross Council, leads clay workshops aimed at fostering creativity, inclusion and connection among locals and newly arrived Ukrainians.
The upcoming Parliament showcase follows on from The Weight We Carried, an exhibition by the Museum of Ukrainian Craft and Culture Scotland (MUCCS).
The exhibition told the stories of Ukrainians forced to relocate to Scotland through the deeply significant objects they chose to carry with them – small fragments of home that hold the weight of memory, identity and love.
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