Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy Month is an initiative dedicated to famous Ukrainian people of art in the spheres of cinema, music, literature, architecture, design, who have made a significant contribution to world culture. Also, to cultural phenomena – from memes to Ukrainian symbols of resilience. The Month was jointly organised by Wikimedia Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

“This is the third Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy Month since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched this initiative in 2020. The full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation not only failed to stop it, but made it even more significant. I am grateful to each and every author who has responded to our call this year, creating and improving almost 1,500 articles about Ukraine in 64 language sections. Through the joint efforts of the state and civil society, we are countering Russian propaganda and systematically updating the global information space with truthful facts about Ukraine and its culture,” commented Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The campaign was joined by 154 participants from all over the world. They wrote 1,401 new articles and improved 85 existing ones in 64 different language sections of Wikipedia. In particular, they created articles about the phrase “Glory to Ukraine!” in Estonian, the play Natalka Poltavka in French, the films Earth and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in Hungarian, Ivan Marchuk in Japanese, the novel The City by Valerian Pidmohylny in Arabic, and the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Chinese.

“I wanted to help Ukraine somehow. One of the ways, I figured, was by raising awareness about the depth of Ukrainian culture. This time, I focused specifically on translating articles about places of interest in Ukraine, such as museums, theaters, and opera houses. I hope the information would drive more people to visit Ukraine after the war, bringing in some tourist revenue,” — participant Nyagoslav Zhekov from Malaysia.

Some topics were particularly popular among the contributors and received coverage in the highest number of language sections: the Madonna of Kyiv, the Vasylkiv maiolica rooster, the writer and historian Olena Apanovych, and others. There were also articles in languages that are less widely spoken: about the Petrykivka painting in Tiap, a Ukrainian wreath in Basque, the novel Maria by Ulas Samchuk in Gujarati, the Eneida in Welsh, and a palyanytsya in Indonesian.

“I joined your Campaign to honor my late mother. She was in Europe in mid ‘60s, and cherished the children’s book based on Ukrainian fable of a mitten hosting forest animals,” — participant Omotecho from Japan, joined the project for the third time.

The most active participants of the Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy Month will soon receive certificates of participation and prizes from the organizers.