UKRAINE-CHINA RELATIONS, WHERE GOES THE SPIRIT OF MAIDAN?
Plus: Texan-Ukrainian BBQ, a sizzling hot trumpet battle, wooden churches, and Lviv conversations
Lviv Now, created by Ukrainian and American journalists, brings you the universal ideas of a vibrant city, a place of culture, freedom, and innovation. Join the conversation about how we can build better cities and democracies.
SECTIONS: Lviv Live Music | Wealth & Democracy | Food & Drink | Travel & Nature | Soul & Culture | About Us
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Wealth & Democracy
Interview: In Ukraine-China Relations, Where Goes the Spirit of Maidan?
«CHINA IS doing everything to ‘synchronize’ Ukraine within Russia–to revive communist occupation from Hong Kong to Uzhgorod, Ukraine» says Arthur Kharytonov, founder of the Free Hong Kong Center in Kyiv and leader of Ukraine’s fledgling Liberal Democrats.
In June 2021, led by Canada, more than 40 countries, petitioned to the Human Rights Council in Geneva: They demanded that China allow independent observers to visit Xinjiang, the Uyghurs’ province, to see whether some form of genocide is occurring. Ukraine was among those countries.
But then, days later, on 25 June, Ukraine withdrew its signature.
Story by Joe Lindsley. Read more …
SEE ALSO:
«Like the Campuses of Google, Apple, Amazon». What Softserv is Planning to Build.
We speak with Oleh Denys, Softserv co-founder, to find out what the Ukrainian-Texan IT firm plans to do on the territory of a former prison in Lviv.
Food & Drink
Feeling Meat and Fire: A Ukrainian Who Makes Texas BBQ
ESPECIALLY IN the pandemic year, enterprising Ukrainians launched delivery-only companies accessible mainly via Instagram. One of these is KlubDymu, «cloud of smoke,» serving Texas-style barbecue.
«Ukraine people don’t know what is real BBQ,» Dmytro Sadontsev writes. «They think it is ‘shashlik’ or sausages or a burger cooked on fire, but real BBQ is so much a different and deeper concept, so I decided to try to let them know.»
Story by Joe Lindsley. Read more …
Lviv Live Music
Impressions with Andrew Arnautov: A Sizzling-Hot Trumpet Battle
RETROSPECTIVE: After the short January lockdown in 2021, Lviv became a hot spot for jazz, one of the few places in the world where people could play live music. Because of this, musicians from Europe and the USA visited, and something special began to form. Musician and producer Andrew Arnautov chronicles this time, early 2021, in this column, which will be the first of a weekly series of jazz reflections.
«[The visiting musicians] took the town by the storm of late-night, every night jam sessions, concerts, late-night hangs at a local restaurant, leaving you with that bitter-sweet aftertaste of a real jazz festival.”
Story by Andrew Arnautov. Read more …
SEE ALSO:
Watch: Wild Jazz Night with American Special Guests
On Thursday 15 July, the LV Café hosted the ArWo 4tet with Philadelphia’s Eric Wortham II on piano and Lviv’s Andrew Arnautov on bass, Yaroslav Kazmirchuk on trumpet, and Leonid Petkun on drums. Then, emerging from the audience at the end: special guest, vocalist Karl Frierson.
Travel & Nature
To Pet and to Feed. Where to Watch Animals in Lviv and Not Far From the City
THERE ARE several animal homes in Lviv, where birds, foxes, dogs, bears, horses, raccoons, exotic animals, etc., live. Some of them were once saved from abuse, others were taken to new homes from the street. Even during a walk, everyone can stop by to look at the animals, treat them to vegetables, fruits, meat, or food, and donate some money for their keeping if possible.
Read more from Sofia Shavranska. Translated by Vitalii Holich …
Soul & Culture
Is It Still Relevant to Build Wooden Churches? A Conversation with an Architect.
«WOOD IS warm and has its own energy. It accompanies us from birth to death, from the cradle, spoon, bed, closet, table, chair, and to the grave. Icons are painted on wood; iconostasis are carved from it. It is present in all spheres of our life» – Roman Sulyk
In Ukraine, wooden architecture is represented not only by ancient, centuries-old churches and houses and collected not just in museums of folk architecture. There are modern architects who create something new and quite useful. One of these few specialists is Roman Sulyk from Lviv, a historian of church construction who has been designing wooden temples and bell towers for 20 years.
Read more from Lida Midyk. Translated by Vitalii Holich …
SEE ALSO:
«Why Do People Start Wars?». Lviv Stories.
City of conversations. Joe Lindsley’s Lviv: a column about the city and its people, from an American in pandemic-exile.
About Us
Lviv Now: Showing How Strong a Community Can Be When Creating Quality Changes Together
LVIV NOW is a project of Tvoe Misto (“Your City”), Lviv’s solutions-focused media hub, working with American journalist Joe Lindsley.
Each week, the journalists of Tvoe Misto, led by editor-in-chief Svitlana Zhabiuk and publisher Taras Yatsenko, host problem-solving public forums, one topic at a time, to activate democracy for all citizens. Their newsroom provides daily reporting as part of their solutions-focused journalism. We welcome you to share this newsletter or individual stories with digital nomads, creative people, travelers, diplomats, researchers, entrepreneurs, the Ukrainian diaspora, and more!
“Through the Lviv Now project, we want to tell the English-speaking audience about Lviv as a lively and attractive city, with its unique architecture, history, and entrepreneurial initiatives. We seek to show how strong a community can be when creating quality changes together,” says the director of the media hub Tvoe Misto, Taras Yatsenko.
“We hope Lviv Now will be useful and interesting among the English-speaking audience of scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists and tourists, as well as firmly establish Lviv on the global map of the world,” Yatsenko says. “Therefore, the slogan of our project is "Let's Open Lviv to the world!"
For more stories and to leave comments, please visit our website LvivNow.com. We welcome your ideas and responses.