On 14 October 2025, the guest lecture “Art Against Artillery: Cultural Resilience in Times of Crisis” took place within the Erasmus+ project “Promoting Academic Freedom in Ukraine” as part of the ongoing lecture series “Ukrainian Voices: Academic Freedom in a Changing World.” Held in a hybrid format at the University of Graz and online, the event was delivered by Olha Volynska, a Ukrainian journalist, documentary filmmaker, and human rights defender.
The lecture examined the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine’s artistic and intellectual community. Through real stories it illustrated how art becomes a source of healing, resistance, and cultural preservation in times of destruction. Drawing on Olha Volynska’s book Art Against Artillery: Voices of Resilience (2025), the discussion showed how Ukrainian artists transform trauma into creativity, using art as a tool for recovery and memory.
This lecture series is co-organised by the University of Graz (Austria) and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland). It seeks to broaden the dissemination of the achievements of Ukrainian researchers across Europe, promote international academic cooperation, and uphold the principle of academic freedom during wartime.
Further information about the series and future lectures is available on the FreeAc project website.