“The world needs to feel that Ukrainians need Ukrainian. This is how each of us becomes an ambassador of our culture in the world.” First Lady Olena Zelenska is convinced
She has urged domestic tourists to ask for audio guides in their native language at leading museums, according to a post on the presidential website on Dec. 30.
“35 audio guides in Ukrainian have already been launched in cultural centers around the world,” as part of an initiative by the First Lady to promote the Ukrainian language abroad and to offer Ukrainians tours in their own native language.
Ukrainian language audio tours are now available is international cultural locations such as the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, the Museum of Natural History in Berlin, Germany, the medieval Vardzia monastery in southern Georgia, the Albertina Gallery in Vienna, Austria, the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, the Palace of Versailles in France and other places.
Olena Zelenska said that the question of why there are so few Ukrainian language tours abroad occurred to her while she was taking a regular bus tour and she decided to do something positive.
“World cultural sites, museums and attractions need to speak our language as well as others,“
wrote Elena Zelenska, adding that “the blue and yellow flag should become a common option”.
Ukrainian audio guides are presently available at some monuments and tours in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Rwanda, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Sweden, and the list is expected to grow throughout 2022.
The President's wife thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ukrainian embassies for supporting the idea of positive practical cultural diplomacy, and she announced that a new project to make quality Ukrainian literature more known globally has also begun.
