A LECTURE about the culture and treasures of Ukraine will be used to raise money for people suffering because of Russia's invasion of the country next week.
The Arts Society Taunton Evening will host a lecture from cultural historian Rosamund Bartlett at The Queen’s Hall within Queen’s College in Trull on Thursday, June 9.
The lecture will “explore the sacred art and architecture of Kyiv and its vital links to the Byzantine Empire and consider the distinctive characters of two very different cities, Odesa and Lviv”.
The lecture will cost £7.50 to enter and it will begin at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm).
The lecture was organised before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, and the organisers have decided to use it to raise money for victims of the conflict.
Queen’s College has allowed the Arts Society to hold a bucket collection at the event, with money going to charities helping people suffering because of the war.
A spokesperson for the event said: “Whatever the future brings, there is no doubting the feeling that the Ukrainian nation is being reborn.
“But what do we really know about this country, the second largest in Europe, which has struggled to be free for hundreds of years?”
The spokesperson added: “We will also look at the rich folk culture of Ukraine's rural heartland, beginning with its music and the secret codes embedded in its ancient folk embroidery tradition, which have exerted a surprising impact on modern painting and contemporary haute couture.
“Last but not least, this lecture promises to unravel the mysteries of wild Cossack dancing and the myriad recipes for borshch.”
Lecturer Rosamund Bartlett is an acknowledged authority on the culture of Russia and the areas surrounding it, and she has been travelling to Ukraine for more than 30 years.
She has also written a biography of Russian anti-war activist Tolstoy, and her annotated translation of Anna Karenina was published to acclaim by Oxford University Press in 2014.
She is also a biographer and translator of Russian playwright and author Anton Chekhov, who had a Ukrainian grandmother and grew up close to the border near the Black Sea.
He also had a dacha in Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine, which is where he wrote many letters featured in Bartlett’s edition of his letters for Penguin Classics.
In 2008, she launched a campaign to save Checkov’s house in Crimea and she remains a trustee of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, a UK-registered charity.
Bartlett’s other works include Wagner and Russia and Literary Russia: A Guide.
For more information, visit https://theartssocietytauntonevening.org.uk/Lectures/FutureLectures.aspx.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here