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Highlights of the Season of Ukraine in France
9 December 2025
The Season of Ukraine in France is launched
Published on 1 December 2025
The Season of Ukraine in France, entitled The Journey to Ukraine, kicked off on December 1 with an evening event at Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.The Voyage en Ukraine programming revolves around ufifty events taking place across France from December 2025 to March 2026.
Launch party for Voyage en Ukraine, December 1 at Théâtre de la Ville
Le 1er décembre, le lancement du « Voyage en Ukraine » a débuté à l’Hôtel du Ministre, avant de se poursuivre au Théâtre de la Ville avec une soirée ouverte au public.
Jean-Noël Barrot, ministre de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères ; Andriy Sybiha, ministre des Affaires étrangères ; Rachida Dati, ministre de la Culture ; Eva Nguyen Binh, présidente de l’Institut français et Volodymyr Sheiko, directeur général de l’Institut ukrainien, ont inauguré la Saison de l’Ukraine en France, en présence des Premières Dames Brigitte Macron et Olena Zelenska.
After a launch at the Hôtel du Ministre, the opening of the Season continued on Monday December 1 at the Théâtre de la Ville with an evening open to the public in the presence of Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, and Brigitte Macron.
The event was attended by Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs;Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture; Andriy Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs;Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris; Eva Nguyen Binh, President of the French Institute, as well as Volodymyr Sheiko, General Director of the Ukrainian Institute.
Placed under the red thread "Culture strikes back! ", this evening featured Ukrainian and French artistic and intellectual personalities, united to affirm the essential role of creation as a space for resistance, dialogue and solidarity, such as Juliette Binoche, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Michel Hazanavicius, Raphaël, Philippe Claudel, and, on the Ukrainian side, Mstyslav Chernov, Andrei Kourkov, Iryna Tsilyk, Olga Gibelinda, Volodymyr Voyt, Bogdana Pivnenko, as well as the Dakh Daughters.
They were joined by writer Artem Chapeye and poet Yaryna Chornohuz, both military, online from Ukraine. The event was moderated by Tetyana Ogarkova (Ukraine Crisis Media Center) and Fabrice Puchault (ARTE).
Some fifty events from December 2025 to March 2026
As announced on June 3 by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, France is hosting a Cultural Season entitled Le Voyage en Ukraine from December 2025 to March 2026, designed to mark a new stage in the relationship between the two countries.
Divided into some fifty events, Le Voyage en Ukraine allows visitors to discover new facets of Ukrainian society and culture in an unprecedented dialogue between artists, cultural professionals and civil society representatives from Ukraine and France. The Season also tackles major themes: human rights, health, the fight against disinformation, memory and heritage. It marks the commitment of the French authorities, and of many local players (local authorities, associations...) to provide lasting support to the Ukrainian people for the survival and independence of their language and the dissemination of their culture.
A program involving French and Ukrainian local authorities
The event's challenges and main highlights were unveiled in Kyiv on October 29, 2025 at a press conference by the President of the French Institute, Eva Nguyen Binh, and the General Director of the Ukrainian Institute, Volodymyr Sheiko, in the presence of a delegation of the event's French and Ukrainian partners.
The organizers have confirmed several events in a program that relies in particular on strong links between French and Ukrainian local authorities. Paris, Kyiv's partner city, is hosting several proposals from all over the country. A few days after the opening sequence at the, the Théâtre de la Concorde will host, from December 10 to 13, four evenings of programming dedicated to the resistance of Ukrainian civil society and artists.
In Marseille, twinned with Odessa and Kyiv, an event bringing together representatives of major cultural venues from Ukraine, France and other European countries will be organized at the end of January 2026, at the Friche Belle-de-Mai.
Lille will host various projects from Kharkiv, a city with which it has enjoyed a structuring partnership for several decades.
Consult the press kit to find out all about the program
Organizers
The Journey to Ukraine is organized by the French Institute and the Ukrainian Institute, with the support of the French and Ukrainian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, and numerous partners.
The Institut français is the pivotal operator of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture in the implementation of France's foreign cultural policy. Its missions are to support French creators and cultural and creative industries in their international development; to strengthen dialogue between cultures and societies; to promote the French language and plurilingualism; and finally to support and lead the French cooperation and cultural action network abroad.
The Ukrainian Institute, under the authority of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a public institution dedicated to cultural diplomacy. It works to improve understanding of Ukraine in the world and deepen its cultural ties with other countries. The Ukrainian Institute's Representation in France has been fully active since 2023.
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Network space
Lʼespace réseau provides members of the French cultural network abroad with personalized tools and offers.