As the devastating impacts of the war in Ukraine continue to be beamed worldwide, a growing number of Ukrainian cultural icons and monuments are also under attack. Already, a museum in Ivankiv – a city north-west of Kyiv – that housed works by cherished Ukrainian folk artist Maria Prymachenko has been destroyed, as well as several cultural buildings in the city of Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, including the Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Kharkiv Philharmonic.
Orr told ArtsHub that he regards Russia’s actions in damaging monuments in Ukraine as reflecting some of the classic reasons why cultural icons come under fire in wartime.
