A-House, Ukraine’s first long-term cultural relief and development program, was originated in 2002 by First Vice Premier Oleh Dubyna, Energy Sector Minister Vitaly Haiduk, and Presidential Advisor Ivan Kuras. Its main distinction is reliance on private support of the national culture.
A press conference took place last Monday, dedicated to the opening of the program and the start of its first stage, The Slavs, An International Open-air Conference. Among the participants were marketing company SC DOM executives, people from the City N modern art gallery, and Ukrainian artists Mykola Zhuravel, Andriy Abdulov, and Serhiy Hai. According to the organizing committee, The Slavs is the first large-scale phase of the project. It will last two years, beginning at the Sviati Hory (Holy Mountains) Monastery in Donetsk oblast, with a sequel on Mount Athos (Greece), and ending at St. Sergius’ Monastery in Russia. The historical and cultural roots of these countries are intertwined. The open-air conference will be held at functioning monasteries, each being a national cultural treasure in its country and the rest of the Christian world. The results of every such action will be displayed as charitable exhibits in Donetsk, Kyiv, and Moscow. The proceeds of the sale of paintings by conference participants will be used to finance later events under the program and to propagate modern culture in the host countries and elsewhere, reports The Day’s Volodymyr DENYSENKO.
