Today, on October 7th, a meeting took place between Taras Shevchenko, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy, and Francesco Pesce, the Deputy Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Ukraine, along with the newly appointed director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Kyiv, Carlo Colonella. The parties expressed mutual interest in expanding cooperation in the field of culture between Ukraine and Italy.
Francesco Pesce emphasized the importance of culture as a component of Ukraine’s resistance to russian aggression. According to him, Italy is ready to provide financial support to Ukrainian cultural initiatives and discuss particular future projects in the fields of music, literature, language, and cinematography.
“Another area of cooperation is the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage. Italy is already actively working on the future reconstruction of Odesa, with the current focus on preserving the Transfiguration Cathedral. Italian experts in 3D scanning also worked on objects at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra this summer. Next year, Italy will preside in the G7, and the Ukrainian issue will be a priority,” he noted.
Taras Shevchenko emphasized the importance of developing cooperation with Italy, particularly in priority areas such as the preservation of cultural heritage and support for Ukrainian artists.
“Our art schools in the liberated territories are in need of musical instruments to ensure the continuation of the educational process. Another important project we are working on is the creation of a depository to safeguard evacuated cultural artifacts. We are discussing many initiatives and propose using Italy’s presidency in the G7 to support Ukraine as a priority,” the Deputy Minister stated.
Carlo Colonella emphasized his hope for the strengthening of cooperation between both countries and expressed readiness to discuss new projects and initiate joint efforts in this direction.
