“She laid down her life to help Ukrainians know themselves”

On the day of Lesia Ukrainka’s birth anniversary, city government and public representatives laid flowers at the famous fellow countrywoman’s monument on Lutsk’s Teatralny Maidan. People recited her poems and marked consonance between the poetess’s oeuvre and this day. Maria Moklytsia, a professor at National Lesia Ukrainka East European University, said that it was very important to turn to spiritual values, particularly Lesia Ukrainka’s heritage, in the current hard times. An information war is now more powerful than a war of guns and tanks, and, to protect yourself and find the truth, you should appeal to the nation’s spiritual and moral geniuses.

The Kosach Memorial Museum in the village of Kolodiazhne saw the opening of three thematic exhibits on Lesia Ukrainka’s birthday. Liubov Merzhvynska, the museum’s research associate, says that the photo exhibit about theatrical productions of The Forest Song became a discovery of sorts. “How beautiful The Forest Song is! What happiness it is to see in on stage!” Ostap Vyshnia used to say. The displayed photos reflected productions in many Ukrainian theaters, as well as a theater in Batumi, Georgia. On this day, the museum received a portrait of Lesia Ukrainka as a gift from the Lutsk-based embroiderer Oleksandr Shum. Not only is the portrait made in an untraditional manner – Lesia differs greatly from her traditional photographed images.

On the last day of February, the amateur theater Harmyder will show in Lutsk Lesia Ukrainka’s drama On the Blood Field. “We are living at a time, when the nation is hysterically searching for a prophet who would comfort it with the words of hope. But all we can see every time is Judases of different sizes, while great prophets seldom appear – perhaps once in a century. People more and more read the Gospel at a time we are destined to live in. So we feel it necessary again to reflect, together with you, on the ‘gospel…’ according to Judas,” the theater’s billboard says. For Lesia Ukrainka’s oeuvre still remains topical.