From May 22 to May 24, 2026, the PROMIN’ festival of contemporary Ukrainian culture will take place in Haarlem, Netherlands — an international event showcasing current Ukrainian art through cinema, video art, performance, exhibition projects, and public discussions.
PROMIN’ is a platform for cultural dialogue that introduces Ukrainian art to the world and creates space for reflecting on the experience of war, memory, identity, and the future. The festival’s name comes from the word “promin” (ray), symbolizing light that passes through darkness and a voice that cannot be ignored.
Co-organizer of the festival Maryna Huts notes:
“Our programme invites visitors into co-presence. Here, films, video works, performances, and words become not only forms of expression, but also spaces in which personal experiences of trauma, loss, embodiment, and intimacy unfold as a shared field of experience. We almost enter the world of these works, allowing ourselves to be fragile and vulnerable. We then continue it in the deep transformations of our everyday life, which change us forever.”
Haarlem4Ukraine coordinator Oleksii Boriak emphasizes that the initiative aims to strengthen cultural ties between Ukraine and the Netherlands.
The Promin’ festival has already been held in Portugal, and its staging in Haarlem will be another step in expanding the international presence of Ukrainian culture and creating a space for exchange and new meanings.
Festival program includes:
Contemporary Ukrainian film screenings:
- “You Are the Universe” (dir. Pavlo Ostrikov, 2025)
- “Timestamp” (dir. Kateryna Gornostai, 2024)
- “Do You Love Me?” (dir. Tonya Noyabryova, 2023)
- “Cuba & Alaska” (dir. Yehor Troianovskyi, 2025)
- “The Crazy Ones” (dir. Denys Tarasov, 2023)
- “Queens of Joy” (dir. Olha Gibelinda, 2025)
- “Traces” (dir. Alisa Kovalenko, Marysia Nikitiuk, 2026)
- “Honeymoon” (dir. Zhanna Ozirna, 2024)
Video art with Q&A sessions:
- Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk — “Additional Scenes” (2025)
- Marina Taliutto and Alona Naumenko — “Inconvenient People” (2022)
- Maria Proshkovska — “Still Here” (video performance, 2026)
- Zoya Laktionova — “We Have Never Met” (2023)
- Maria Stoyanova — “Forest, Forest” (2022)
- Serhiy Petliuk — “Erasure / Filling” (2012)
Performance:
- Anna Buryachkova — “Give Me Your Pain (I Will Give You Light)” — an intimate work exploring the transformation of emotional pain through presence, trust, and interaction with the audience.
Performative project:
- Maria Proshkovska — “Walking Out the Wound” — an exploration of traumatic experience through the practice of walking, embodiment, and space, with the subsequent transformation of routes into visual and textile objects.
Exhibition:
- Vlada Ralko — “Not My Room” — a project about the loss of home, the fragility of private space, and the experience of forced displacement.
Literary programme:
- Presentation of the independent publishing house “Who is it?” — a platform for contemporary Ukrainian literature working with themes of identity, reflection, and internal transformation.
“Our goal is to strengthen cultural ties between Ukraine and the Netherlands through the active presence of Ukrainian art in an international context,” says Haarlem4Ukraine coordinator Oleksii Boriak.
The festival brings together Ukrainian artists and an international audience, creating a space for exchange, collaboration, and new meanings. Special attention is given to themes of decolonial rethinking, the experience of forced displacement, and the role of culture in times of global transformation. At the same time, PROMIN’ emphasizes the multidimensional nature of Ukrainian culture, which is not limited solely to the themes of war, but also speaks about life, resilience, and vitality.
The festival has previously been held in Portugal and continues to expand its international presence. Its staging in Haarlem will be an important step in developing cultural dialogue between Ukraine and the Netherlands.
Organizer: PROMIN’ Festival
General partner: Haarlem4Ukraine
Media partners: Embassy of Ukraine in the Netherlands, Kastanje, Celebrate UA, Vataha, Nomadische Boekenplank
