As part of the initiative of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, 35 audio guides in Ukrainian have already been launched in cultural centers around the world. The project started in 2020.
Thus, audio tours in Ukrainian are held at the Colosseum (Italy), Versailles (France), and Albertina Gallery (Austria). In the past month alone, Ukrainian-language audio guides have been launched, in particular, at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin, the medieval Vardzia monastery site in Georgia, the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, and other places.
"For me, the project started with a regular bus tour, where it was rare at that time to listen to the accompaniment in Ukrainian. So the question arose: why are there so few excursions in Ukrainian abroad? World cultural sites, museums and attractions need to speak our language as well as others. And the button with the blue and yellow flag should become a common option when you choose the translation," Zelenska said, summing up the year.
Currently, audio guides in Ukrainian are available in museums and monuments of 25 countries: Italy, France, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Armenia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Turkey, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Georgia, the United States, Kenya, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Rwanda.
Zelenska thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian embassies in these countries for their cooperation in the project.
The First Lady also said that the project is ongoing, and next year there will be at least 20 Ukrainian-language tours around the world.
She also urged domestic tourists to ask for audio guides in their native language at leading museums: "The world needs to feel that Ukrainians need Ukrainian. This is how each of us becomes an ambassador of our culture in the world."
The President's wife also announced another project of cultural diplomacy – the dissemination of Ukrainian literature. High-quality translations of works with the support of the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ukrainian embassies should appear on the shelves of museums and shops, in educational institutions of different countries.