Exercises

53. Answer the questions based on the Programme Summary above.

1. What seems to be the mission of the International Renaissance Arts Foundation?

2. What were the results of Foundation's four-year Programme implementation?

3. How did the Foundation expect to consolidate their performance in the new period?

4. What key problems in Ukrainian culture did the new Strategy address?

5. The Programme viewed culture and art as more than just self-expression, but rather as a social stabilising factor. Why?

6. Why did the Programme target education, training and management projects?

7. What role did local authorities play in the grand scheme of art and culture development?

8. Why, according to the document, did the Culture Ministry and businesses fail the arts and culture sector's expectations?

9. What were the sector's main obstacles on the way to self-modernisation?

10. What were the main directions of work?

11. Will you explain the meaning of the "uninstitutionalized arts and culture"?

12. What were the potential strengths and weaknesses in the course of Programme's implementation?

13. Who was to be involved in the regional programme of the Foundation?

14. What activities did Programme 2 envisage?

15. How were the Programme results to be assessed?

Talking and Writing

54. The period of implementation of the said Programmes has expired. Share about the state of Ukrainian culture and art to date. Assess the situation using the quantitative and qualitative indicators:

• whether you see new currents, methods, forms, visual artistic media now;

• whether you come across an increased number and quality of galleries, forums, exhibitions and presented artistic works;

• whether the museums have engaged into the recent modernisation trends;

• whether they have become centres of artistic life and education, places for family pastimes;

• whether you have become more responsive to pieces of art produced nowadays;

• whether or not there is more art in our life now.

55. Write a letter to the institution, government agency or individual who you think can, should or must address the shortcomings in the Ukrainian culture and arts sector, which you revealed over the class discussion. See the tips on formal letter writing below.

• Your address and date in the top right-hand corner of the sheet;

• name of the recipient, position, institution, address – lower on the left;

• Salutation: Dear Sir/Madam, Dear Colleague, Dear Editor, Dear Professor, Dear Mr President/Minister, Dear Ms Green;

• formal style – impersonal – language not too direct;

• complex sentence structure – frequent use of Passive Voice – single word verbs – non colloquial English – advanced vocabulary;

• each paragraph develops one specific area;

• only facts, no use of literary devices;

• no use of short forms;

• Name: Yours faithfully, Yours sincerely – if you know the name of the recipient, Olexander Makoviychouk

Role-play

56. Divide into three teams and arrange a presentation of each of the three programmes, described in the document above. Distribute the roles among each team and the "audience" representing government agencies, local authorities, culture and arts NGOs, museums and galleries, different regions, uninstitutionalized artists, yet undiscovered talents, mass media and general public. The purpose of the presentation is to gain support, attract potential partners, network with other related organisations, motivate artists and receive publicity for the programme. The importance of the task will make you sound balanced and convincing. The "audience", on the other hand, will have to clarify certain points for themselves and will ask questions. Make all the three presentations and then discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

57. Complete a role-play that takes place in the City Hall. You represent a local art museum, which recently applied for a grant to implement a project within Programme 1 or Programme 2. Your Project Proposal was accepted and the museum received financing from the Foundation for the project implementation. Now you are underfinanced from the local budget, which creates natural difficulties in your activities. You come to the responsible officer in the City Hall and try to explain the importance of the current period, the high tasks you have set before yourselves and request for funds. The officer will probably cite the difficulties in finding funds, question the feasibility of the project objectives, recommend to raise additional funds with the help of other potential donors, reduce the project activities to Kyiv only, do without foreign expertise. Act out the dialogue in pairs and then share the results of the appointment.