In 2019, UN Women Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute established an independent annual Women In Arts Award. It aims to highlight the achievements of women in arts and inspire them to reach new heights. The laureates in the main categories of Women in Arts Awards 2021 are: Music — an orchestra conductor Oksana Lyniv, the first woman to become a principal conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (Austria). She is a founder and art director of LvivMozArt Festival, and also a founder and principal conductor of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/YsOu.
Cinema — a film director Iryna Tsilyk. Her debut documentary, “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”, was the first of the Ukrainian directors’ films to be presented at the American independent film festival Sundance Film Festival, and won the Best Director award. Overall, the film won more than 20 international awards in one year.
Theater — a theater director Tamara Trunova, the Chief Director of the Kyiv State Drama and Comedy Theater on the left bank of Dnipro river. The “Bad Roads” play directed by her won the 2nd Ukrainian Theater Festival and Award “GRA” (“Great Real Art”) in 2019.
Literature — a writer Sofia Andrukhovych, an author of the “Amadoka” novel. In 2020, a full-length feature film was made based on her another novel, “Felix Austria”, and this book has already been translated into several European languages.
Visual Arts — Alina Kleitman, an artist. In 2015, she won the second Special PinchukArtCentre Prize for her work entitled “Super-A. Shave Your Heart”, and in 2018 she won the PinchukArtCentre Prize Audience Award for another work – “Ask a Mom”.
Women in Arts Management — Yuliia Fediv, the first executive director of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (2018 – 2021). With her unique professional skills and personal qualities, she has managed to create one of the most successful, transparent and solid institutions.
Cultural Journalism, Criticism, and Research — Vira Baldyniuk, a culture journalist, cultural critic, literature researcher, journalist, and editor-in-chief of the Korydor online media, has been analyzing cultural processes in Ukraine and the world for 10 years.
The filmmaker Nadia Parfan made a documentary about the 2021 Award winners – “Women Who Play” is now available worldwide for free, with English subtitles and in full quality, in Takflix.com online movie theater. Watch it now: https://www.takflix.com/en/films/women-who-play.