Ukraine conflict: Edinburgh event celebrating Ukrainian culture comes to Story Telling Centre

A Ukrainian woman, who made Leith her home eight years ago, invites Edinburgh audiences to celebrate Ukrainian culture one year on from the outbreak of war

A Ukrainian woman, who moved to Leith in 2014, has organised a cultural event at the Story Telling Centre next week to celebrate Ukrainian culture and heritage, one year on from the outbreak of war.

Zhenya Dove, from the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, has been a prominent campaigner within Scotland’s Ukrainian community; organising charity work, speaking at marches and met with politicians to communicate the struggle of her people.

Titled Unbroken, the event on February 23 invites audiences to experience Ukraine’s traditional story telling, music, dance, folklore and poetry with all profits going to Hospitallers, a voluntary organisation of paramedics in Ukrainian. Zhenya said celebrating their national identity will act as ‘a mark of defiance’ against their neighbour’s calculated war effort, that has killed over 7000 civilians, displaced eight million people, and seeks to destroy the voice of the hearts and minds of generations past and current.

Event organiser, Zhenya Dove, is from the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. She moved to Leith in 2014 and says she is now a 'proper Leither'

Zhenya said: “Throughout history our culture has been under attack many times. The Ukrainian language was banned by the Russian Empire then the Soviet Union. Artists were suppressed, they couldn’t write Ukrainian songs let alone sing them – they tried to suppress us. So unbroken also refers to the fact that throughout history they didn’t manage to destroy our national identity and they won’t do it this time either.”

In the last year, more than 500 cultural sites and monuments have been damaged or completely destroyed, with Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, Oleksandr Tkachenko, labelling the targeted attack by Russian forces as cultural ‘genocide.’ According to the Ukraine Ministry of Education and Science, 3051 educational institutions have suffered from bombing and shelling, including libraries and museums.

Zhenya said: “I dread the first time I go to Ukraine and see the destruction with my own eyes, it’s one thing to see it on the photos but I think it will be a very shocking experience when I see it for myself. My school got bombed the other week, before that it was my university, there’s pretty much nothing else from my old life and my childhood memories. We will rebuild but it is really difficult to see it, even the parks I used to walk around in are all destroyed.”

Zhenya last saw her parents in November 2021, three months before Russia’s invasion, and said being involved with the Ukrainian movement in Scotland has provided a distraction from the daily ‘reality horror show’.

Top right: Zhenya with Kateryna (left) who will perform on the cello. Originally from Donetsk, Kateryna now studies at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Bottom right: Ukrainian activist, author and lecturer, Andriy Strekhaliuk, will read folk tales on the night.

The 34-year-old said: “I keep wanting to go back but my town is under occupation I wouldn’t be able to see my family and friends. Now, there is no guarantee when or even if I will see my family again and my friends are scattered around the world.”

But Zhenya said the support from the Leith and Edinburgh communities has been ‘incredible’ since February 2022.

She said: “I don’t see myself living anywhere else to be honest, I don’t know where life will take me but I love it – I’m a proper Leither! The community spirit is incredible, people are very open and I really admire the inclusivity and welcoming nature of everybody here. It has a different vibe from the rest of Edinburgh and I really like that vibe.”

Zhenya hopes the event next week will bring Ukrainians and locals together in solidarity, where they can share food and celebrate Ukrainian culture that Russian forces have attempted to silence. All artists performing at Unbroken are temporarily displaced Ukrainians, including performances from discharged soldiers, and award winning musicians.

Zhenya said the event's title 'Unbroken' encapsulates the spirit of the Ukrainian people. She said her country's cultural heritage and national identity has been targeted by Russian forces but the Ukrainian people refuse to be broken. Such resilience in the face of adversity is a message that will encompass a space at the Story Telling Centre next week when Ukrainians from across Scotland come together to celebrate their cultural traditions and demonstrate their unbreakable spirit one year on from the outbreak of war.

One performer, who fought in the war, will recite poetry by Taras Shevchenko, one of Ukraine’s most famous poets (the university named after him was also recently attacked). Zhenya said ‘his poetry is all about freedom for Ukraine and struggle’ adding it is ‘quite an eye-opening that it’s become applicable yet again.’

The proud Leither explained that ‘Nezlamni’, meaning unbroken, encapsulates the spirit of the Ukrainian people. It’s a credence rooted in cultural, a message echoed in stories and fairy tales and a red thread that connects Ukrainians all over the world. For citizens both displaced and on the front line, it is an outlook that is as contemporary as it is historic.

Zhenya added that due to geography many people believe that Ukraine and Russia are ‘brotherly nations’ with similar culture – but one only has to look at fairy tales to see ‘the difference is immense.’

She said: “Ukrainians are big on storytelling – we have a lot of stories and legends. The majority of Ukrainian fairy tales have an underdog hero who wins against a much more powerful enemy with his wit or personal traits like kindness or shrewdness - it’s an overriding theme. In Russia, you have stories like Ivan the Fool where things happen to him by luck. Those kinds of details give you the essence of the culture.”

Tickets for Unbroken on February 23 are available on the Scottish Storytelling Centre website. Doors open at 6pm with all profits helping support paramedics in Ukraine. Tickets cost £15.