On the occasion of the 160th anniversary of Ivan Franko at the fourth International Scientific Conference “Ukrainian Language in the World” a video has been presented by International Institute for Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations (MIOK) at the National University “Lviv Polytechnic.” The video, entitled “Mykyta the Fox from all around the world,” has been created by the institute in cooperation with GOODzyk Production, especially Nazar Dziubynsky and artist Natalia Kashchak. The production lasted for almost the entire year of 2016. The audience has been presented with the famous Mykyta the Fox character in a new interpretation. The video presentation was attended by Jamala, winner of Eurovision 2016, who also took part in its production. The video features voices of Ukrainian children (ages 5 to 11) from 33 countries.
Andrii Yatsiv, deputy director at the MIOK, said in an interview to The Day: “We tried to show that Ukrainian language thrives throughout the entire world, and the younger generation of Ukrainians read Ivan Franko and other classics. We wanted to draw attention to Ukrainian education abroad, to Ukrainian schools. Because many children are enrolled in Saturday schools where they study Ukrainian. The video is available on Facebook, at the MIOK website, and on YouTube. We want to promote it as much as possible, in every country from which a child was involved in the project. These countries are: Australia, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada, Latvia, Moldova, Nigeria, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Romania, and other parts of the world, home to many Ukrainians.”
The conference featured a discussion on the state of Ukrainian language in the world, its area, future development and distribution in foreign countries, and the need of it for Ukrainian diaspora, especially when this question has not yet been resolved in Ukraine itself. It was attended by 100 scientists from 13 countries, including: Honorary Consul of Canada in Ukraine Oksana Vynnytska, president of the World Educational Coordinating Council at the Ukrainian World Congress, lecturer of Ukrainian in the Department of Slavic Studies at Columbia University in New York and others.
