NL

HKU assists art education in Ukraine

  • 18 november 2022
HKU is one of the co-founders of the new partner network UAx Platform. With this platform, five international institutions for art education offer support to five art academies in Ukraine. HKU does its part to enable the exchange of knowledge and networks, and to support art students in Ukraine.
HKU assists art education in Ukraine
The name UAx Platform is derived from the international country code for Ukraine (UA). The ‘x’ in the name simultaneously refers to the platform’s goals of supporting the ‘exchange’ of knowledge and the ‘extension’ of resources and networks, in support of art students. In this way, HKU actively supports Ukrainian organisations for art education, who keep on teaching and studying despite the ongoing war. Two of HKU’s lecturers are linked to Ukrainian students, serving as mentors and exchanging knowledge with the lecturers of other partner organisations.
With a gift from Abakanowicz Arts and Culture Charitable Foundation (AACCF), in partnership with the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA), it was possible to quickly establish a strong foundation for cooperation. Chair of HKU’s Executive Board Heleen Jumelet: ‘This initiative is incredibly important. Continuing the education of arts in Ukraine is obviously very hard. Putting art and art education against the madness of war: they commit to that, which I deeply respect. Through this international cooperation, HKU is assisting them in their own country by actively deploying our knowledge and experience’. UAx Platform is trying to further expand as a network by increasing the number of participants. The goal is to offer guidance to two hundred Ukrainian students by 2025, through professional mentors, and scholarship grants from the Abakanowicz Foundation.