Lesia Hasydzhak took part in the Literary Festival “The Fifth Kharkiv”

29 January 2024

On 28 January 2024, Lesia Hasydzhak, Acting Director General of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, participated in “The Fifth Kharkiv” Literary Festival. The organisers of the festival are the Kharkiv Literary Museum and Serhii Zhadan’s team.

The fourth part of the festival was dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Lesia Hasydzhak took part in the conversation on the topic “On Genocide: Holodomor”, which was moderated by Yevhen Zakharchenko. Daria Mattingly, a historian from Great Britain, a teacher from the University of Cambridge, and Volodymyr Dibrova, a novelist from the USA, also joined the discussion. During it, they discussed how the collection of the National Museum of the Holodomor-genocide is replenished, what changes in the literary process entail tragedies that affect millions and change the lives of generations; how and why authors tackle such complex topics, which determines the success of some works and leaves others unnoticed, etc.

In the name and idea of the festival, the image of “The Fifth Kharkiv”, which belongs to the world-famous linguist and honourary resident of Kharkiv, Yuriy Sheveliov, is key. “The Fifth Kharkiv” is a conversation about the future of the city, about dreams, desires and visions. The organisers of the festival believe that it is worth talking about the future precisely in the situation of radical cultural and mental changes that Ukraine is experiencing today.