The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, presented the results of her initiatives aimed at creating Ukrainian-language audio guides and establishing Ukrainian bookshelves around the world.
In particular, 18 Ukrainian-language audio guides were launched this year:
The Netherlands – Van Gogh Museum;
Japan – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum;
Latvia – Museum of the Occupation of Latvia;
Sweden – Nobel Prize Museum;
Austria – Hofburg Palace in Vienna;
Finland – Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museum in Espoo;
Serbia – Kalemegdan Fortress Museum;
The UAE – Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi;
Cyprus – Anastasios G. Leventis Art Gallery;
Peru – Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion in Lima;
Germany – Museum Barberini;
Belgium – Royal Museums of Fine Arts;
Mexico – Mexico City's Capital Bus tourist sightseeing buses;
Argentina – sightseeing bus routes in Buenos Aires;
Vatican City – Vatican museums;
Lithuania – Church Heritage Museum in Vilnius;
Italy – Ukrainian-language mobile application MyPompeii in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
In the last few days of this year, the Ukrainian audio guide was also made available in Croatia – at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum.
“The path that people have traveled over hundreds of thousands of years of history is impressive and encouraging. Mankind did not emerge from caves only to live today with a cave-like mentality. Therefore, it must restrain aggression and preserve humanistic civilization,” the First Lady said.
Olena Zelenska emphasized that audio translation into Ukrainian helps our compatriots better understand countries, their culture and history. Moreover, they give a voice to the Ukrainian language. In total, 95 audio guides have already been launched in 51 countries.
As part of another project, Ukrainian Bookshelves, hundreds of Ukrainian books were donated to the Winnipeg Public Library and the Central Library of Mississauga (Canada), the American University Library (Cyprus), the Astana IT University Library (Kazakhstan), the Muara Language and Literature Bureau (Brunei), the University of La Sabana Library (Colombia), the Julianna Reformed Secondary School Library (Hungary), and the National Library of Azerbaijan in the last two months alone.
The project now covers 54 countries and the UNESCO headquarters. In total, approximately 220 shelves are in operation, offering more than 55,000 books.
“I thank all the embassies, consulates, diplomats, and activists who make this happen. In this way, the Ukrainian language and culture build bridges of understanding between our country and the world,” the First Lady concluded.