Academy Heritage

A centuries-old glorious history of shaping the spiritual culture of Ukraine is the creative heritage of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. The Academy's activities are aimed at nurturing the best traditions of the Ukrainian people in the field of art, art science, art education, and the fulfilment of the cultural needs and aspirations of society and individual artists.
A practical attempt to establish an institution in Ukraine similar to the European academies of arts of the 17th and 18th centuries (France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and the UK) was made in the early 20th century by creating a higher art education institution, the Ukrainian Academy of Art. However, the aspiration to create a state scientific and creative institution that would unite the best scientific and creative forces of Ukraine in order to preserve and multiply artistic traditions was realized only in December 1996, after Ukraine regained independence and established Ukrainian statehood.
All the members of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine are well-known figures not only in the field of direct artistic endeavour but also in the cultural community as a whole. Among the members of the Academy (as of January 1, 2022) are five Heroes of Ukraine, 29 laureates of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, 23 People's Artists of Ukraine, one People's Architect of Ukraine, 26 People's Artists of Ukraine, 36 Honored Artists of Ukraine, 15 Chevaliers of the Order of Merit. Thirty-six members of the Academy have an academic degree, 15 have a PhD, 62 have the academic title of Professor, and 12 have the title of Associate Professor.

In December 2021, the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine celebrated its 25th anniversary. The Academy has come a long way and accomplished numerous scientific and artistic achievements, however, even more, significant challenges and accomplishments lie ahead.

Ukrainian movies of different years are regularly released in national and international distribution, they are screened in competitions at prestigious film festivals, and generations of artists regularly present full-length motion pictures at the international level: dramas, comedies, historical essays, feature films, etc. Cooperation between Ukrainian directors and actors and international partners is being developed.

Over the years, the NAA of Ukraine has included prominent directors, film industry workers, and actors who have contributed to a significant cinematic heritage and laid the foundation for the further development of Ukrainian and international cinematography.

1. The White Bird Marked with Black (1971, Yuri Ilyenko)

A 1971 Ukrainian drama film by the Kyiv Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio directed by Yuri Ilyenko (1936-2010), cinematographer, film director and screenwriter, the Academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (1996).
Storyline: the story of a poor and large family of Dzvonars living in the Carpathians, near the border with Romania, in 1937-1947. Each of the adult sons of an old father and a bit of a smuggler chooses their own path in that tumultuous historical time: one joins the Red Army, another joins the rebels, and one goes slowly insane. The government changes four times in ten years, human lives become a subject of bargaining in all senses, and it is no longer clear who is right and who is wrong, who is a friend and who is a foe.

2. Flights in Dreams and Reality (1982, Roman Balayan)

A 1982 Ukrainian feature film by the Kyiv Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio, directed by Roman Balayan (b. 1941), a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and film producer, and the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (2001).The film is ranked seventh in the list of the 100 best films of Ukrainian cinematography.
Storyline: On the eve of his fortieth birthday, Sergey Makarov (played by Oleg Yankovsky) is summing up his life and experiences a crisis. The constant feeling of discomfort and dissatisfaction makes the protagonist rush between people and do strange things in the hope that changes will happen in his life and he will discover something that had previously been inaccessible.

3. The Long Farewell (1971, Kira Muratova)

A 1971 Ukrainian feature film by the Kyiv Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio (released in 1987) directed by Kira Muratova (1934-2018), the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1997).The film is ranked ninth in the list of the 100 best films of Ukrainian cinematography.
Storyline: For a long time, the mother (actress Zinaida Sharko) was busy only with her son Sashko. As her son grew older, Mykola Serhiyovych began to court her. In the summer, the son went for a visit to his father. When he returned, he was starting to change. The mother understands that the son is ready to leave, but she lacks the wisdom to behave properly in the developing situation.

4. The Eve of Ivan Kupalo(1968, Yuri Ilyenko)

A 1968 Ukrainian drama film by the Kyiv Dovzhenko Film Studio, the debut of the director Yuri Ilyenko (1936-2010), a cinematographer, film director and screenwriter, the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1996).
Storyline: A young poor peasant, Petro, lived in a village and worked for a rich owner, Korzh. He fell in love with the owner's daughter, and the girl reciprocated. But the father flatly refuses to allow his daughter to marry the peasant labourer. Out of grief, Petro goes to a tavern, where he meets Basavryuk, a vagrant whom the locals consider to be the devil in human form. Basavryuk offers Petro a deal: the boy will help the tramp, and in return, Basavryuk will tell him how to marry a beautiful maiden.

5. The Guide (2014, Oles Sanin)

A 2014 Ukrainian historical drama directed and written by Oles Sanin (b. 1972), a film director, screenwriter, and the Corresponding Member of the NAA of Ukraine (2021).
Storyline: Ukraine in the 1932-1933s. American engineer Michael Shamrock arrives in Kharkiv with his ten-year-old son, Peter to help "build socialism" and under tragic circumstances, the American dies and his son is saved from his pursuers by a blind bard (kobzar). With no other chance to survive in a foreign land, the boy becomes his guide. Their journey, full of dangerous adventures, takes place against the dramatic pages of Ukrainian history and the destruction of human destinies: collectivization, repression and the Holodomor. The movie is about love, loyalty, treachery and betrayal.

The masterpieces of Ukrainian visual art are symbols of national culture and are known worldwide, serving as a source of profound research and development of new knowledge, scientific theories and hypotheses that influence the consciousness of society, and shape its cultural outlook and sense of national dignity.
The NAA of Ukraine is proud of its artists, the Members of the Academy: graphic artists, painters, sculptors, and architects, who contributed to the artistic heritage of Ukraine and play an important role in the world history of art.

1. Tetiana Yablonska

Tetiana Yablonska (1917—2005) — artist, academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (1997)

In 1956, Tetiana Yablonska was a member of the USSR pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Between 1954 and 1959, she took a series of journeys and painted "In the Crimea", "In the Caucasus", and "In the Baltic States" series. In 1972, she returned to Italy and created a series of works.

Yablonska is a Hero of Ukraine (2001), laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1998), State Prizes of the USSR (1945, 1951, 1979), People's Artist of Ukraine (1960), Academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1975), People's Artist of the USSR (1982), and Professor (1967). Honorary Citizen of Kyiv (2001), awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2004).

2. Serhiy Yakutovych

Serhiy Yakutovych (1952–2017) — artist, graphic artist, book illustrator, and Corresponding Member of the NAA of Ukraine (2013)

The outstanding illustrator he has created 160 publications, including 17 volumes of modern Ukrainian literature. The edition of Lina Kostenko's novel Berestechko, illustrated by Yakutovych, was published by Lybid Publishing House and was recognized as the best illustrated and artistically designed book presented at the Ashgabat Fair.

Yakutovych is a laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2004), winner of the Grand Prix at the Berlin exhibition competition "For Peace" (1983), the Berlinale Honorary Prize in Berlin (1985); he was awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine.

3. Valentyn Znoba

Valentyn Znoba (1929—2006) — sculptor, academician ("founder academician") of the NAA of Ukraine (1997)

Valentyn Znoba worked in the fields of monumental and easel sculpture, and portraiture. His great contribution and wide promotion of Ukrainian art abroad should be noted distinctively. He was a master of working with stone, wood, and metal; he was the author of many monuments and memorials of the Second World War.

Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1996), the Republican Prize of the Komsomol named after M. Ostrovsky (1967), People's Artist of Ukraine (1979), awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2004). Member of the British Royal Society of Portrait Sculptors (1995), Honorary Professor at the Edinburgh Napier University (1996), Honorary Citizen of Kyiv (1997).

4. Tetiana Golembievska

Tetiana Golembievska (1936—2018) — artist, teacher, and Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1997)

Tetiana Golembievska worked in the field of easel painting.
The most famous works are "Immortality" (1974), "Friends" (1959), and "Harvest" (1967), among others. Golembievska's works are housed in museums in Ukraine and in foreign art collections in Japan, Italy, Greece, France, the USA, Norway, Germany, England, and Scotland.

Tetiana Golembievska is a laureate of the Republican Prize of the Komsomol of the Leninist Communist Party of Ukraine named after M. Ostrovsky (1968), People's Artist of Ukraine (1986), Professor (1984), awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2006), the Order of St. Stanislav of the III degree and the Queen Anne's Diamond Order. She is the spouse of Ukrainian sculptor Valentyn Znoba.

5. Mykola Storozhenko

Mykola Storozhenko (1928—2015) — painter and graphic artist, Academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2000)

Mykola Storozhenko worked in the field of easel and monumental decorative painting, as well as book graphics. He was characterized by the breadth of his artistic outlook, the versatility of comprehension and the imaginative embodiment of the theme.

Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1988), People's Artist of Ukraine (1997), Professor (1991). He was awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2000), the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th Degree (2008), the Order of Merit, 3rd Degree (2004), the Order of St. Michael (2004) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine's Award for Achievement in the Development of Culture and Arts (2013).

The Ukrainian musical heritage encompasses all types of musical art: folk and professional, academic and popular music. Today, Ukrainian music in its genre diversity is performed in Ukraine and far beyond its borders, continues to be shaped by folk and professional traditions, and is the subject of study by musicologists.

Over the years, among the members of the NAA of Ukraine were world-class musicians, composers, and conductors who represent a variety of musical styles and are laureates of Ukrainian and international music awards.

1. Melody in A minor (1980s, Myroslav Skoryk)

"Melody in A Minor" is a musical work by composer Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020), written in the 1980s for the feature film "High Pass" at the request of film director Volodymyr Denysenko.
Myroslav Skoryk is a Ukrainian composer and musicologist, the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (2008), Hero of Ukraine (2008), laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1987), the National Legend of Ukraine Award (2021, posthumously), People's Artist of Ukraine (1988), Candidate of Arts (1967), Professor (1985). He was awarded the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (2008). Author of music for iconic Ukrainian films: "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", The Swans and Geese are Flying", and "The High Pass"; author of the opera Moses based on the poem by Ivan Franko.

2. A Song about a Rushnyk (recorded in 1966, performed by Dmytro Hnatiuk)

"The Song about the Rushnyk", a 1958 creation by Andriy Malyshko to music by Platon Maiboroda, is known for its performance by the prominent Ukrainian opera singer Dmytro Hnatiuk (1925-2016), the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1996).
"Song about a Rushnyk" is a confession and memoir of the lyrical hero, where a mother gives her son a shawl embroidered as a symbol of life's journey. The author addresses the anxieties of childhood, farewell to home, and maternal worries about the fate of the child.Dmytro Hnatiuk is a Hero of Ukraine (2005), Hero of Socialist Labour (1985), laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (1973), the USSR State Prize (1977), the Paliashvili State Prize of the Georgian SSR (1972), People's Artist of Ukraine (1999), People's Artist of the USSR (1960).

3. "When the Fern Blooms" Opera (1978, Yevhen Stankovych)

"When the Fern Blooms" is a 1978 folk opera by Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych (b. 1942), composer, the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1997). The opera is based on a libretto by Oleksandr Stelmashchenko.
The opera was commissioned by the French concert company "Alitepa" for the World Exhibition in Paris. The opera is based on the works of Mykola Gogol, national folklore, heroic poems, and folk rituals.

4. The National Anthem of Ukraine(recorded in 2020 by "Dumka" Capella)

The National Anthem of Ukraine is the song "Ukraine's Glory and Freedom Have Not Yet Perished" with lyrics by Pavlo Chubynsky and music by Mykhailo Verbytsky.
Director General, Artistic Director, and Chief Conductor of the National Honoured Academic Capella of Ukraine "Dumka" is the Hero of Ukraine Yevhen Savchuk (b. 1947), Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (2004).

5. The Seasons (1973, Lesia Dychko)

"The Seasons" is a cantata by Ukrainian composer Lyudmyla (Lesia) Dychko (b. 1939), the Corresponding Member of the NAA of Ukraine (2009).
Lesia Dychko is one of the leading choral composers in Ukraine. Her works have been broadly presented at choral festivals, competitions and concert programs around the world: the USA, Canada, France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Ukrainian performing and visual arts play an important role in the development of the world's theatre, choreography, plastic arts, opera, creative performances, and various kinds of stage experiments.

Over the years, the NAA of Ukraine had prominent actors, dancers, performing artists, theatre directors, and choreographers among the members, all of them representing a variety of styles and popularizing Ukrainian performing arts in the world.

1. Performance of the Dance Ensemble named after Pavlo Virsky

The Pavlo Virsky National Honoured Academic Dance Ensemble of Ukraine is a national artistic professional ensemble of Ukraine based in Kyiv city. The repertoire of the ensemble is based on ancient and modern dances from different regions of Ukraine. The ensemble's distinctive feature is a broad reflection of contemporary themes and the creative use of the folk dance heritage. The general director and artistic director is Myroslav Vantukh, the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (1997).
More than 1000 dancers participated in the company's activities over the nearly 80 years of its existence. The company has toured more than 60 countries, including Austria, Vietnam, Korea, China, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, and others, where it has represented the achievements of Ukrainian culture. The arrangements of folk music and new music for dances were created by Ukrainian composers, and all dance performances were accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

2. "A Cossack Beyond the Danube" Opera

"A Cossack Beyond the Danube" (or A Zaporizhzhian Cossack Beyond the Danube) is an opera in 3 acts by Ukrainian composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky at the Taras Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Ukraine.
General Director and Artistic Director - Petro Chupryna (b. 1948), the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (2013).
Short storyline: The action takes place in Ottoman dominions (the Danubian Sich) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Near the house of the Cossack Karas, his adopted daughter Oksana is grieving for her beloved Cossack Andriy. The Ottoman sultan comes to Karas's house, expecting to be unrecognized. Karas changes his name to a Turkish one, while Oksana meets Andriy and they run away. The Sultan later makes a decision to allow everyone to leave his domain and return to Ukraine. The nation rejoices; Andriy, Oksana, and all the rest return home.

3. The Play "One Hundred Thousand"

A performance of "One Hundred Thousand", a tragicomedy in four acts by Ukrainian writer Ivan Karpenko-Kary, at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre. Director General and Artistic Director of the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater - Mykhailo Zakharevych (b. 1950), the Corresponding Member of the NAA of Ukraine (2017).
Storyline: The play's protagonist, Herasym Kalytka, a rural rich man, meets an unknown Jew who offers him 100,000 fake rubles for only 5,000. However, the "money" turned out to be ordinary paper. Kalytka tried to make a chain of frauds and finally tried to commit suicide. After failing and regaining consciousness, the deceived "swindler" says: "Smokvynov's land is gone! Why did you let me off the rope? Better death than such a loss", and the play ends with these words.

4. The Opera "Don Carlos"

"Don Carlos" opera in 5 acts by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi at the Taras Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine.General Director and Artistic Director - Petro Chupryna (b. 1948), Academician of the NAA of Ukraine (2013).
Storyline: The opera begins in Fontainebleau in 1559 and ends in Madrid in 1568. The plot of Fr. Schiller's story about the love affair between Don Carlos and Elisabeth of Valois, set against the backdrop of real historical events, is fictional and is not confirmed by historians. At the end of the opera, Don Carlos stops to say goodbye to Elisabeth. The king and the Inquisitor catch up with the runaway, only being stopped by the ghost of King Charles V. The open ending of the opera gives hope for Don Carlos's rescue.

5. The Play "Tevye-Tevel"

The play "Tevye-Tevel" by the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre, starring Bohdan Stupka (1941-2012), the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine, has been one of the most popular performances of the theatre for three decades.The play is directed by Serhii Danchenko (1937-2001), the Academician of the NAA of Ukraine. The play was written by Grigori Gorin (1940-2000) and is based on the stories of Sholem Aleichem about Tevye the Milkman. The play premiered in 1989.
Storyline: Tevye, a milkman from Anativka, pulls his cart with dairy products and meets different people along the way. His hopes are dashed one by one, but Tevye, a great dreamer from Anativka, even after the death of his wife Golda, holding his little granddaughter Golda in his arms, tells her about the regularity and logic of the life circle. The idea of the desired and the unattainable runs through the events of the play, which is set in the tragicomic genre.