Awareness Raising: Discussion Panels / Speeches
This article is part of the Festivals For Ukraine Toolkit.
- Creator: Music Saves UA & YOUROPE
- Published in: 2024
Your festival can highlight Ukrainian voices and foster cultural exchange and dialogue by inviting Ukrainians to participate in discussion panels. This way, your visitors will get a deeper look into Ukraine-related topics, which will encourage further discussion and collaboration between artists, cultural workers, and activists. It will demonstrate your commitment to making a positive difference beyond bringing entertainment and music to your audience.
Which topics can be discussed?
There is no shortage of insightful conversations that can be held around Ukraine and its culture.
Below are some examples to give you a starting point:
- how to continue to support Ukraine via music, culture and events
- how the war affects musicians and other people from the creative and cultural sectors and activists
- unique experience of the Ukrainian event industry, which adapted to operate despite aerial attacks, curfews, blackouts and air raid alarms
- blooming Ukrainian music scene and the current state of Ukrainian culture and its institutions, how we can help it and how we can rebuild it together
- the role of music and culture during the war
- how artists and event organizers can foster positive change and contribute to important political discussions
- stories and case studies from Ukrainian culture, its background and identity
- direct insights into everyday life in the current situation by peers and colleagues with personal experiences
Who can participate in this panel?
If you booked Ukrainian artists or invited an organization like Music Saves Ukraine to join your festival – you can ask them to join the panel. Consider artists or cultural activists from Ukraine who moved to your country after the war started. High-profile participants such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of Culture, the Ukrainian ambassador, embassy and cultural institution representatives can generate even more interest. Journalists covering culture and music, representatives of the cultural sector, and Ukraine-related NGO members are all great potential additions. Having someone from the festival team will demonstrate the festival’s support of the cause as well.
It is imperative to avoid inviting representatives of Russia, as Ukrainians express their clear unwillingness to have public discussions with them while the war continues.
Although a peaceful exchange and discussion of commonalities by representatives of both countries on a festival stage might seem to be an obvious approach, it does not apply to this particular case for the time being. The people in question are hardly on the same level of being affected and have different perspectives. These discussions are arguably not productive at the moment and can negatively affect the Ukrainian speakers, for whom the topic is extremely sensitive.
Speeches
If your festival has an opening speech, performance or ceremony, you can invite Ukrainians to take part. The opening unites your entire audience in one place and generates a strong, memorable moment that will set the mood for the entire event. Use this moment to highlight what you are doing for Ukraine and invite your audience to join by visiting the dedicated Ukrainian area at the festival, donating, and checking out Ukrainian artists. Hosting a special performance can take this even further. Such performances will be discussed in the next section. As with panels, consider inviting high-profile individuals like ministers, ambassadors and cultural representatives to generate an even stronger impact.
If you are looking for potential participants, you can always get in touch with Music Saves Ukraine to ask for options.