Ukraine

Last update: November, 2017

Special reading programmes initiated by the International Publishers' Forum (Lviv), other book fairs, publishing houses and writers' associations are supported by local authorities and government.

The National Parliament Library of Ukraine is creating the electronic library "Culture of Ukraine" with the support of the Ministry of Culture. The objective of this programme is to provide access to the achievements of Ukrainian culture and art through the Internet to the wider public elsewhere in Ukraine.

Now, four collections of the electronic library have been formed:

• history of culture, theory of culture, policy of culture;
• arts;
• ethnography (nations of Ukraine, tangible culture, spiritual culture); and
• cultural institutions (libraries, museums, archives, educational institutions, foundations, associations, societies, Ukrainian centres abroad) (see also chapter 2.4).

The National Museum of History of Ukraine has developed a set of special programmes (interactive tours, quests, games, and excursions) for children and adults presenting different aspects of ancient and modern history of Ukraine (https://nmiu.com.ua/).

Last update: November, 2017

More than 30 000 libraries under different competences and of different ownership operate in Ukraine. By the end of 2016, there were 17 003 libraries financed by governments of different levels. The Ministry of Culture directly manages and funds four national and two state libraries. Other libraries are under the financial responsibility of local authorities (regions or cities) but must follow the rules and minimum standards provided by the Ministry. The general number includes 3 479 libraries in towns and 13 524 in rural areas.

Table 18:  Number of libraries (under the competence of the Ministry of Culture) by the end of 2016

Source: Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Due to serious financial problems, libraries are not able to keep up their stocks and purchase new titles. Today, the average number of copies printed for a newly published book, according to the Book Chamber of Ukraine is 2.3 thou. Therefore, most newly issued books are not available in local, especially village libraries. In 2016, the Ministry of Culture received from the Government more than UAH 40 million (EUR 1.4 million), almost by 5 times more than in 2015, for purchasing books for libraries within the special budget programme. However, the procedure of selection and proposal of books for libraries gave rise to criticism from some publishers demanding a more transparent and open process, accessible to all stakeholders.

Table 19:  Types and official ownership of libraries in Ukraine, 2015

Source: Verkhovna Rada Committee on Culture and Religions, 2016.

Table 20:  Number of libraries and their stocks, 2010-2016

Source: State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2017.

Graph 4: Number of libraries and their stocks in Ukraine in 2010-2016

Source: State Statistics Service of Ukraine, 2017.

Table 21: Library stocks by languages at the end of 2016 (in thousand)

Source: Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, 2017.

During the second decade, the number of public libraries reduced by 2 500. Such a trend is related to the financial and economic situation in the country, political process (decentralization) and the losses of administrative territories (Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions).

At the same time, according to the analytical research realised by the company GFK Ukraine, one in four Ukrainians do not read books. 73% of the population don't include books in the sphere of their interests. Experts claim that this decline is due to the outdated library collections and that to be educated is not in fashion now. According to analytical data, only 15% of Ukrainians read books daily, and 19% do it, at least, one time per month.

Table 22:  Participation figures for cultural activities in Ukraine, 2000-2016

Source: State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2017.

Table 23: Number of film demonstrators and visits to cinemas in Ukraine  

Source: State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2016.

According to the Book Chamber of Ukraine, in 11 months of 2017, Ukrainian publishing companies printed 16 546 titles, with the number of copies at 31 331 400. While the number of titles has increased, the number of copies declined indicating that the average number of copies also declined as did the number of books per capita. 

Table 24:  General information on book-publishing in Ukraine, 2016 and 2017

Source: Book Chamber of Ukraine, 2017.

Table 25:  Average number of copies and number of books per capita, 2006-2016

Source: Book Chamber of Ukraine, 2017.

Last update: November, 2017

Please find the available information on this subject in 6.2.

Last update: November, 2017

Amateur arts and folk culture

Each locality of Ukraine is traditionally rich in authentic folk arts and amateur arts. During the last years, local communities not only preserved the existing amateur arts but also developed new ones including youth and national minority subcultures. Now, along with such traditional types of the amateur arts in Ukraine as brass band music, orchestras of folk instruments, choral singing, choreographic art and dancing, amateur theatre, decorative and applied art, embroidery, etc. one can enjoy modern genres generated by new technologies and social evolution: pop song studios, groups of acoustic music, multimedia art, computer graphic, etc.

In each regional city of Ukraine, there is a regional centre of amateur art and folk culture. A regional centre is an institution providing proper conditions for the development of folk culture and amateur art and leisure activities. It is a creative and methodological centre for houses of culture or clubs in each region. A regional centre supports activities for preserving intangible cultural heritage and cultural diversity.

According to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine database, there are about 350 amateur theatres and 60 folk and amateur orchestras. To illustrate the multiplicity of amateur groups and artists in Ukraine it is sufficient to examine a separate region or town (see Annex: Dnipropetrovsk oblast review – in Ukrainian). For instance, in the Ternopil oblast (Western Ukraine) with a population of 1.14 million persons (2.3% of the population of Ukraine) of which (57.3%) reside in rural areas, there are about 3 500 amateur groups (incl. 1 558 children's amateur groups) involving more than 50 000 persons (17 905 children). Only in a separate locality, Gusiatyn rayon, which has 65 small towns, villages and settlements with a total population of 68 000 persons, there are 192 amateur groups involving 2 535 persons.

The most popular kinds of folk decorative and applied arts are embroidery, folk painting, fine weaving, studio pottery, puppet making and carving. There are about one hundred popular artists in each region of Ukraine, for example, only Zaporizka oblast, with a population 1.775 million persons has 1650 masters.

Cultural houses and community cultural clubs

The preservation of the network of cultural clubs and centres inherited from Soviet times has been a priority of the Ministry of Culture over the last years. Now, with acceleration of the decentralization process in Ukraine, this responsibility is given to local authorities and local communities.

In the rural communities these clubs and centres remain the main centre of cultural life and the platform for the development of amateur arts. For example, there are 976 clubs in the Poltava region with a population of 1.7 million. These clubs run 5 250 amateur circles, groups and associations, with 63 434 persons attending. In Kirovograd region with a population of 1.05 million, there are 582 clubs, which run 2 809 amateur groups.  Lack of financing and the transformation from state run institutions into community property led to a significant decrease in the number of clubs and cultural centres (see Table 29). The main problems of these institutions are maintenance and personnel: only about 5% of all clubs and cultural centres in the rural areas are provided with modern technology, and only 60% of staff are cultural specialists, 6% of whom have higher education. 35.7% of existing cultural clubs (or 6589) require repair or renewal; in some regions (Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Odessa, Poltava, Donetsk, Kherson) this number is above 50%. In most regions, many cultural clubs are not heated in winter. With some decrease in 2014, local communities began to renovate or restart activities of cultural club/house establishments in successive years.

Table 29:  Number of cultural clubs in Ukraine, in thousands, 2005-2016

Source: State Statistics Committee, 2017.

Graph 6:   Dynamics of cultural clubs in Ukraine, 2005-2016

Source: State Statistics Committee, 2017.

New multi-functional cultural institutions were formed during last years in many regions, like cultural centres, folk and craft centres, club-museums, club-libraries, etc.

Table 30:  Cultural clubs in Ukraine at the end of 2016

Source: Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, 2017.