On Friday, 21 February 2025, on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day, the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine hosted a recitation of lyric poetry of authors from different countries of the world within the scope of a cultural event entitled The Verses that Unite: Poetry from Around the World.
The event was organised by the Centre for Public Diplomacy of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNESCO Desk in Ukraine, in cooperation with Ukrainian Diplomatic Spouses Association and Ukrainian Book Institute, and in partnership with the State Enterprise ‘Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions’, PEN Ukraine, the Association ‘Ukraine Cinema Development and Support — Watch Ukrainian!’, the Pictoric club, and the TseGlynaArt art project.
The event was attended by representatives of over 20 countries — including Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Tajikistan, and Ukraine — and the Apostolic Nunciature to Ukraine, the European Union, the United Nations, as well as poets, writers, and artists.
Tetiana Sybiha, Head of the Centre for Public Diplomacy of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine and co-founder of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Spouses Association, moderated the event.
Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine Hennadii Nadolenko, UNESCO Project Officer in Ukraine Teresa Korbacher, and Director of the Department General for Public Diplomacy and Communications of the MFA of Ukraine Viktoriia Lialina-Boiko launched the event with their opening speeches.
In his opening speech, Hennadii Nadolenko thanked all participants and stressed the importance of native languages as elements of cultural identity and sources of inspiration and connection with people’s motherlands.
‘This event is an important part of cultural diplomacy, which promotes dialogue among peoples and their mutual enrichment. During challenging times, we feel even keenly the power of our native language as an inalienable component of our identity and a source of inspiration and connection with our motherland. This makes events like this one a reminder about the fact that language is not just a tool of communication but a living memory of the people, their soul and history.’
Ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions recited poems in their native languages, which reveal the cultural and worldview values of their countries. Among the poems that were delivered were ‘Soprano pure and crystalline’ (by Victoria Ocampo, Argentina); ‘Croatia’ (by Drago Ivanišević, Croatia); ‘The light of the fire’ (by Andrius Mamontovas, Lithuania); an excerpt from the ‘Sweet land’ (by Ramón López Velarde, Mexico); ‘Our language’ (by Alexei Mateevici, Moldova); ‘To the youth’ (by Nordahl Grieg, Norway); ‘Tis eve on the hillside’ (by Mihai Eminescu, Romania); ‘For death haters’ (by Desanka Maksimović, Serbia); ‘A toast’ (by France Prešeren, Slovenia); ‘Language’ (by Rose Ausländer, Austria); ‘Independence march’ (by Nəbi Xəzri, Azerbaijan); Faust’s Monologue from Faust (by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany); ‘Me’ (by Chairil Anwar, Indonesia); ‘Tigris, the river of welfare’ (by Muhammаd Mahdi al-Jawahiri, Iraq); «Be not defeated by the rain» (Miyazawa Kenji, Japan); ‘The wilderness’ (Yi Yuksa, South Korea); ‘In the Carpathians’ (Kazimír Hurnický, Slovakia); ‘A nation of glory, and glory is hers’ (by Idris Jammā, Sudan); ‘Ju-yi Muliyan’ (by Abu ʿAbd Allāh Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad Rūdakī, Tajikistan); Psalm 23 (Apostolic Nunciature to Ukraine).
Ivan Malkovych, a poet, publisher, winner of the Shevchenko National Prize, and Alim Aliev, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute and Member of PEN Ukraine, showcased examples of Ukraine’s poetic wealth. Ivan Malkovych recited ‘Here I Stand on a Cliff’ by Pavlo Tychyna and his own poem, ‘I long for unconditional triumphs at last’, in the Ukrainian language. Alim Aliev addressed the esteemed guests with a poem by Seyare Kokçe, ‘My heart flutters’ (‘Çapalana yüregim çağaladay’) in the Crimean Tatar language.
The event’s participants and guests also had a unique opportunity to learn more about Ukrainian culture and its diversity through the ‘Brothers in Arms’ exhibition by the TseGlynaArt art space and a series of illustrations under the title ‘Even in dark times, there is light’ by Ukrainian artists from the Pictoric club.
The closure of the event featured a performance of Taras Kompanichenko, a well-known kobzar and bandura player and leader of the Khoreia Kozatska band.
