Culture

At the Grand Palais this week, amid the international throng, Ukraine will very much be present—not quietly, not apologetically, but with a persistent, urgent visibility. 

At the 2025 European Film Awards, three shortlisted Ukrainian films confront war and belonging, marking Ukraine’s expanding presence on the European cultural stage.

Boris Mikhailov: Ukrainian Diary—a color-rich portrait of post-Soviet Ukraine—opens in London after debuting in Paris in 2022. Ukrainian Photographer Boris Mikhailov and Paris-based curator Laurie Hurwitz reflect on the decades-long artistic journey that shaped the exhibition, from the radical Kharkiv School of Photography to the transgressive Case Study series, and on creating art in the midst of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

As Paris positioned itself as a capital of contemporary art, one booth at Art Basel offered something different: reflection over spectacle. Ukrainian artist Mykyta Kadan stood out with a solo project presented by Voloshyn Gallery (Kyiv) and Galerie Poggi (Paris). Rooted in the experience of war, his drawings, sculptures, and installations explored how Ukraine’s recent history shapes its deeply grounded art scene.

The Bayeux War Correspondents’ Award highlights the crucial role of photojournalism in a world dominated by social media, featuring powerful exhibitions and tributes to journalists like Antoni Lallican, killed by a Russian FPV drone on the Ukrainian frontline.

The seaside festival opened without the sea—in Kyiv instead of Odesa—with a program stretching from choreography to the front line, for a public that needs a breather as much as the truth.