#EmptyChairWeek. In Ukraine, a commemoration of the artists who died in the war started
It started in Ukraine on November 13 awareness campaign to remember artists whose lives were taken by full-scale war, #EmptyChairWeek. He initiated it The Ukrainian PEN calls on all those who are interested to join in social networks.
Since the end of the 1980s, on the initiative of the International PEN, the world has been celebrating November 15 Day of empty chairs. The empty chairs on this day symbolize authors who were imprisoned, persecuted, disappeared or were killed.
This year, for the Day of Empty Chairs, Ukrainian PEN initiated a campaign dedicated to Ukrainian artists who died due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The campaign has a name #EmptyChairWeek and will continue in social networks with November 13 to 19.
During the week, the organizers invite you to join the initiative by posting on your social media pages about Ukrainian writers, musicians, actors, historians, artists, linguists and other cultural figures whose lives ended after February 24, 2022. Your posts should be supplemented with the hashtag #EmptyChairWeek.
“The goal of #EmptyChairWeek – to mention as many names as possible of the fallen artists and to make sure that they are heard as widely as possible in the public space, that is why every post will be valuable – both about those whom you knew personally, and about those whose names you learned only after their death“, – say the team of the Ukrainian PEN.
| The campaign will last from November 13 to 19. Photo: Ukrainian PEN |
It is already known that an actress will join the campaign Rimma Zyubinadirector and actor Akhtem Seitablaevjournalist and TV presenter Myroslava Barchukjournalist Vitaly Portnikovjournalist Olga Gerasimyuk, philosopher and writer, president of the Ukrainian PEN Volodymyr Yermolenkoa poetess Kateryna Kalitkodirector and writer Iryna Cilyk, a writer Maryana Savka, a writer Maria Tytarenko and other cultural and media actors.
The Ukrainian PEN has been tracking losses among cultural figures since the beginning of the full-scale war. Information is gathered from media reports, with the understanding that the numbers may be higher.
As of November 13, 2023, PEN compiled a list of 71 names of dead Ukrainian artists (you can read it here and here).
Read also: Military man and writer Maksym Petrenko died
