The Lecture Program on Dnipro is a series of talks dedicated to the culture and history of Dnipro, as well as the exploration of local self-perception.
The first cycle of the project took place in the summer of 2024 and consisted of two parts. The first was dedicated to the “body” of Dnipro: its infrastructure, architecture, and the history of its formation. The second focused on the culture and communities that inhabit this “body.”
2024 Program:
- “The Formation of Dnipro: 30 Years of Battles Between Cossack Settlements and a European City with a Complex History.” — Valeriia Lavrenko.
- “The City Transformed by the Factory.” — Ihor Kocherhin.
- “Why Does Dnipro Have the Best Contemporary Architecture in Ukraine?” — Kateryna Kozlova.
- “Dnipro Dissident Movement and Ivan Sokulskyi.” — Iryna Pasko.
- “Colonial and Post-Colonial Strategies in Dnipro Art.” — Olena Godenko-Nakonechna.
- “Petrykivka Painting: Authenticity vs. Mass Production.” — Olena Godenko-Nakonechna.
Condensed recordings of these lectures are available on YouTube.
In the summer of 2025, the project continued with its second cycle. We discussed how Dnipro was shaped, why local identity matters, and how the full-scale war intensifies the need for self-determination. Together with historians and researchers, we reflected on why Dnipro is the way it is today, what experiences unite its citizens, and how we preserve the memory of past events.
2025 Program:
- “Cities on the Verge: How the Identity of Ukrainian Cities Changes During the War.” — Oksana Dovhopolova.
- “The Ukrainian Movement in a ‘Stagnant’ City: On the Dissident Writers of Dnipro.” — Iryna Pasko.
- “The ‘Double Crime’: The Holocaust in Dnipro and the Struggle for the Memory of the Victims.” — Yehor Vradii.
- “The Individual Under a Totalitarian Regime: The Historical and Social Dimension of Dnipro.” — Iryna Reva.
- “Ukrainian Cossacks as a Chivalrous Community.” — Oleh Repan.
- “Dmytro Yavornytskyi: Life, Cultural Mission, and Legacy.” — Maksym Kavun.
The 2024 Lecture Program was created as part of the “We Are Working” project, supported by the USAID project “Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity” (UCBI).
The 2025 Lecture Program was created in collaboration with POMIZH, a media outlet about Dnipro and its surroundings.
