Ukraine on My Mind: Cultural Heritage and the Current Armed Conflict
Irina Tarsis
Symposium
The full text of this Article may be found here.
33 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 566 (2023).
Article by Irina Tarsis*
ABSTRACT
[T]
he following keynote address was delivered on October 7, 2022, during the Fordham Law Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal Symposium, “Duplicate, Decolonize, Destroy: Current Topics in Art & Cultural Heritage.” It was prefaced by a YouTube video of “Ukrainian Folk Song ARMY REMIX | Andriy Khlyvnyuk x The Kiffness.” The upbeat remix of a folk song was performed as a collaboration between South African musical talent David Scott, known as the Kiffniss, and Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the lead singer of the Ukrainian band, Boombox (Бумбокс), who took leave from his concert tours to join the military forces of Ukraine and fight as a soldier against the invading forces. Nearly a year after the start of the war, Ukraine is still fighting to defeat the Russian Federation’s invading forces while actively seeking to protect and preserve its cultural heritage. As the war in Ukraine continues, UNESCO has verified that since February 24, 2022, “104 religious sites, 18 museums, 82 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 19 monuments, 11 libraries” have been damaged or destroyed, and these numbers are increasing.
* Irina Tarsis, Esq., Founder and the Managing Director of the Center for Art Law (US/CH) is an art historian and a practicing attorney. She wishes to thank Atreya Mathur and the team of the Center for Art Law for their work on preservation of art and cultural property at risk during armed conflict.