The Ukrainian Culture Ministry has responded to petitions by artists to leave the country amid the war with Russia as the United States returned artifacts to Ukraine seized from Russia. Photo courtesy of Ukraine’s Culture Ministry
March 12 (UPI) — The Ukrainian Culture Ministry has responded to petitions by artists to leave the country amid the war with Russia as the United States returned artifacts to Ukraine seized from Russia.
Ukrainian officials said in a statement that it had received “a large number of petitions” from artists and art associations requesting that they be allowed to leave the country, which is under martial law amid the war.
“We would like to remind you that during martial law and the announcement of mobilization, it is forbidden for men, citizens of Ukraine of conscription age, to leave the country. This is determined by legislation,” officials said in the statement.
However, the ministry said that it can “temporarily” assist artists and musicians obtain permission to cross the border if their departure will “protect and popularize the interests of the state of Ukraine.”
Any artists that are granted permission to temporarily leave are mandated to return to the country, though the “fight on the cultural front has become more complicated” due to cases of abuse of the policy, the ministry said.
The ministry said that those who have appealed include the Korobkov Art Studio, which shared a video message on Instagram urging artists to “return to Ukraine and respect the laws.”
The studio urged the Ukrainian government “not to close this opportunity” while asking officials “to bring traitors to justice and make such conditions for travel abroad so that conscious artists can continue to fulfill their mission and help Ukraine.”
Music Export Ukraine, another group for artists in the country, said in a statement that it has helped more than 200 musicians and their teams based in Ukraine to leave the country and ensured their return.
“They diligently continue to work on the cultural front, understanding the importance of this mission,” the statement reads.
“At a time when the foreign audience is tired with news of war, it is culture that can restore interest in our country.”
Last year, UPI interviewed a New York City gallery owner that had exhibited work by female Ukrainian artists amid conflict with Russia.
The Fridman Gallery, located in lower Manhattan, had also held a screening presented by the New York-based nonprofit organization Locus29 of the 1930 silent film Zemlya by master Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksandr Dovzhenko.
The film was scored by the Kyiv-based band DakhaBrakha, which has toured the United States giving concerts after the outbreak of the war.
The news came as Ukraine’s Culture Ministry revealed that artifacts seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents that were being smuggled into the United States had been repatriated to Ukraine.
The artifacts, which included Akinaki swords from around 500 B.C., were returned by the U.S. to Ukraine’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.
“Russia has a long-standing tradition of appropriating what does not belong to it,” Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova said in a statement.
“Together with the Ukrainian territory, the same applies to our cultural material and intangible heritage, which is now being barbarically looted by the occupiers. Thank you to everyone who implemented this extremely difficult, but very important operation.”