After Lutsk comes Lviv. The visitors of our newspaper’s photo exhibit in Volhynia hand the baton over to Galicians. The audience sympathy award in Lutsk went to Oleh Batrak’s Art Object, Oleksii Furman’s series “Overcoming,” and Andrii Nedzelnytskyi’s A Wise Instruction. The residents of Lviv will be able to make their choice very soon now. Thanks to our partners and readers, Lviv has always been an essential destination for Den’s annual intellectual marathon. Our paper’s days in this city start today, May 18, in an informal atmosphere. At 7:30 p.m. editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna will meet the public at the anti-cafe Communa at 1, Halytska Street.
The formal opening of the best photos of the 18th Den’s International Photo Competition will take place on May 19 at noon. Venue: Lviv Polytechnic National University, main building (12, Stepana Bandery Street). Also here a meeting and discussion with Den’s editor-in-chief is scheduled at 1 p.m. Theme: “National dialog.”
Den is a frequent and welcome guest not only in Lviv, but also in entire oblast, where our intellectual initiatives holding spent the whole past year’s summer. Oleh SYNIUTKA, head of the Lviv Oblast State Administration, shared his ideas about the importance of humanitarian efforts in society in the context of Den’s projects: “Our society is undergoing an extremely complicated transformation process. The main thing in this process is not to lose the individual. That is why everything that has to do with the liberal and humanitarian spheres is as important as defense and economy. When the individual is placed in the center of society, when government understands his problems and pains, when the individual feels government’s support, when he finds ways for self-realization in our country; in a word, when the individual feels the urge to unite and join efforts, then I am convinced that the country itself will become stronger.
“Den is a recognizable brand which enjoys the well-deserved trust in Ukrainian society. Den propagates true values and spreads confidence in society. I am sure it has played a crucial role in the uniting of society by enabling the individual to feel self-sufficient and needed.
“The materials and collections published by Den are extremely up-to-date. We want all our consolidated communities and key schools to have collections of Den’s Library books. I am convinced that when people learn about themselves and society from books, they will only grow wiser and stronger.”
The Lviv Polytechnic has long become a second home to Den’s intellectual initiatives. Professor Yurii BOBALO, rector of the Lviv Polytechnic, shares about the years-long fruitful cooperation of our newspaper with this university from his own perspective: “Den with which we live, think, and win. This is how I personally see the special role and exclusive mission of the newspaper with the telling name Den.
ART OBJECT GOT THE AUDIENCE SYMPATHY AWARD / Photo by Oleh BATRAK
“Sadly enough, Ukraine has few periodicals of this scale and depth which awaken national self-consciousness and self-respect in Ukrainians, educational periodicals keeping to the high standards of journalism. Den is a happy exception in this sense.
“The Lviv Polytechnic and Den have ties that go quite some time back: the ties of close creative cooperation and friendship. Our university, the oldest in Ukraine and Eastern Europe (which marked its 200th anniversary), traditionally holds Den’s utterly interesting and emotionally loaded photo exhibits. Photo journalism of really high standard helps us perceive reality and analyze fast-changing contemporary life.
“Our lecture rooms also often see numerous meetings, which are in fact dialogs between Den’s journalists and the university’s students and faculty. I remember one of such engaged conversations whose theme was outlined precisely and topically: ‘How can we win?’ At that meeting the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna claimed: ‘Our paper is a sort of toolkit for learning Ukraine’s true history, for understanding today’s social, political, and cultural processes, and for shaping people’s active civil position.’
“The students and faculty of the Lviv Polytechnic embrace this deep idea. Despite their technological bias, they are convinced that a good deal of liberal arts is indispensable in the shaping of Ukraine’s technical elite. In order to become a true citizen and patriot, one must think, read, and observe. Den gives us all of this.
“We are going through a hard, dramatic period. However, each time I open Den and peruse its passionate texts, I am filled with irresistible optimism and confidence that we will overcome all troubles and lead Ukraine along the broad, luminous path of prosperity and progress.”
We would like to note that the exhibit of the best photos of the 18th Den’s International Photo Competition will last from May 19 through June 4. Do not miss the opportunity to meet our paper’s team in person, and also to purchase the new publication My Sister Sofia..., the best-selling books of previous years, and to subscribe to your own Den.
