UDC 7.011:327.9:008(477:4-6ЄС)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59694/ped_sciences.2026.22.046
INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY STRATEGIES AS A TOOL FOR INTEGRATING THE UKRAINIAN ART SCENE INTO THE EUROPEAN CULTURAL SPACE: THE CULTURE MOVES EUROPE CASE STUDY
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POPOVICH Nataliia Mykhailivna
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Cultural Strategist,
Ambassador at Culture Moves Europe
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7822-6980
Abstract:
In the face of contemporary geopolitical shifts and existential threats, the integration of Ukraine’s artistic environment into the European cultural space has transcended mere aesthetic exchange to become a vital instrument of cultural diplomacy and national security. The isolation of domestic creators, exacerbated by ongoing military conflict, necessitates the establishment of sustainable professional networks that facilitate the decolonization of Ukrainian culture and assert its agency within the global community. Within this framework, international mobility emerges as a fundamental mechanism for articulating national narratives and identity through individual and collective artistic practices. This study provides a scholarly interpretation and conceptualization of international mobility strategies as a systemic factor in the institutional integration of Ukrainian cultural actors into the European landscape.
By analyzing the architectonics of the «Culture Moves Europe» program, the research evaluates the practical effectiveness of individual support instruments for artists. The analysis demonstrates that the program’s structure fosters an anthropocentric paradigm of support, prioritizing individual professional inquiries and «bottom-up» diplomacy. For Ukrainian participants, short-term mobility functions as a crucial anti-crisis mechanism, ensuring their «presence effect» in the pan-European discourse and neutralizing the risks of cultural provincialization. The study reveals an exceptionally high level of adaptability among Ukrainian artists, who maintain leading positions in application dynamics despite the challenges of the state of war. This phenomenon, defined as «creative resilience», testifies to the sector’s capacity to transform crisis experience into a unique cultural product.
Furthermore, the implementation of «green mobility» and ethical administrative standards, including financial transparency and accountability, accelerates the institutional synchronization of the Ukrainian art sector with the requirements of the common European cultural services market. International mobility is conceptualized not as a temporary relief measure, but as a systemic strategy for long-term integration. The successful implementation of these tools ensures a transition from the «exoticization» of Ukrainian art to its recognition as an integral component of European identity. The study concludes that Ukraine’s artistic environment is evolving from a passive recipient of aid into a proactive donor of new meanings, offering unique visions of solidarity and ethics that enrich the contemporary European dialogue and lay the foundation for a stable, parity-based partnership between Ukraine and the European Union.
Keywords: international mobility, cultural diplomacy, «Culture Moves Europe», European integration, creative resilience, decolonization of culture, institutional convergence, Ukrainian art.
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