We used to think that culture is something additional. There is the economy, there is security, there is politics, and then, somewhere in the end, there are books, movies, museums. But today, when Russia’s war against Ukraine has become not just a military invasion, but a deliberate attempt to destroy the very Ukrainian identity, culture has turned out to be the force that keeps society from disintegrating.
“Russia is waging against us not just a war for territory, but a civilizational war – an attempt to destroy the right of Ukrainians to be themselves,” the Christian Democratic Expertise analytical note says.
“That is why the library, church, theater, and museum are not just institutions. They are strongholds of national resistance.”
Culture, unlike weapons, works slowly. But its effect is long-lasting. In 2022, Ukrainians demonstrated the phenomenon of unity. They sang the national anthem in the subway dungeons, holding not only guns but also books. Plays and concerts in bomb shelters became symbols: we are still alive, we are still creating, we are the people.
But in 2024-2025, it became clear that social and moral fatigue was eroding this unity. Art cannot be sustained on heroism alone. It needs systemic support.
How to develop culture in times of war: not just “preserve” but “rethink”
The Christian democratic approach to cultural policy begins with a deep conviction: culture is a way of life for the people, not a set of “services” or “events.” It is a field of meanings where the main things are decided: who we are, what we believe in, what we are ready to die for, and why we should live on.
Here are the key ideas of this approach:
1. Personalism: everyone is a carrier of culture
At the center of everything is a person. Not as an object of a “cultural product,” but as a person capable of creating, searching for meaning, and transmitting experience.
“Art and education serve to reveal the human personality in its entirety,” the analysis says.
This means that cultural policy should support not only large theaters and academies, but also small rural libraries, parish choirs, and children’s fine arts studios.
2. Subsidiarity: initiative is born from below
Culture is not born in ministerial offices. It starts with the family, church, school, and community. The task of the state is to support, not dictate. This means giving local communities the resources and the right to create – and not to interfere unnecessarily.
3. Solidarity: culture for all
Access to cultural heritage should not be a privilege.
The village has the right to a performance just like the capital.
Children from IDP families should have access to art on an equal footing with everyone else.
Cultural policy should remove barriers, not create new ones.
4. 4. Rootedness and openness: memory and dialog
In the Christian democratic vision, culture is not isolation. It is openness to dialogue, but with a clear understanding of one’s identity.
“The Baptism of Rus was not just a religious event, but a civilizational choice. It laid down the spiritual code on which Ukrainian culture is based to this day.”
Today we have a chance to move from survival mode to self-assertion mode. We are no longer just defending ourselves, we are creating. And this transition should become the axis of a new cultural policy.
What exactly do you need to do?
- Rethink the canon.
To bring back into cultural circulation those who were silenced by the Soviet system: repressed artists, philosophers, and teachers who created an alternative tradition.
Each region has its own name, its own legend – it’s time to sew these names together into a single national pantheon. - Support institutions, but not in a centralized way.
Cultural policy cannot be centered in Kyiv. A network of local cultural centers should be established, which will be autonomous in management but will receive financial support. - To give voice to public and church initiatives.
The Christian democratic principle of subsidiarity means that the state should not replace the community. Volunteer choirs, parish museums, and folklore groups are real carriers of living culture. They don’t need a “review committee” but a simple grant application and trust. - Bet on digital culture.
Young people live on TikTok and YouTube. Where there is no Ukrainian culture, there will be someone else’s. We need to create platforms to support Ukrainian-language content, train bloggers, translators, and animators. - Clean, but not destroy.
Decolonization is not about destruction, but about truth. It is not about erasing Pushkin, but about giving voice to Kulish, Dovzhenko, Krushelnytska, and Domontovych.
This is not a war with the past, but the construction of a future in which we will no longer be “younger brothers.”
Instead of an epilogue: culture as a vocation, not a service
“Everything that holds us together as a community is based on culture. It is not only art. It is meaning,” the policy brief concludes.
We will win the war only when we win back not only territories but also meanings. And for this we need culture. Not a decorative one. Not festive. But deep, true, communal. The one that forms a person – free and responsible.
And it is precisely this culture – the culture of unity, dignity, and service – that the Christian democratic approach offers.