Kyiv is an administrative, industrial, scientific, political and also a cultural center of Ukraine. There are many museums, theatres, galleries, cinemas, exhibitions. Kiev is a fast and busy city, everything is changing rapidly, everything is new and fresh. On the other hand it is a very old city which is more than 15 hundred years old. It has its monuments, its architecture, it’s spirit.
Kiyv has more than 100 theatres that are situated on both banks of the Dnipro river. The most popular are Lesia Ukrainka’s theatre of drama and comedy, Bravo Kiev Drama theatre, Marionette theatre and of course National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after T.G. Shevchenko. One theater that is one of a kind is “Chernii kvadrat” or “Black square”. It is a theater of improvisation. Every performance is absolutely new, event actors don’t know what they will do next. Sometimes actors take a famous plot and then turn it into something new and absolutely unexpected.
Another cultural spot is Kyiv museums and galleries. The variety of it is endless. One can easily find any exhibition for any taste. The most famous art gallery is Pinchuk Art center. It is a center that was created by one of the richest people in Kiev – Viktor Pinchuk . Mr Pinchuk is an art patron, he organized this gallery in 2006. Since that year he exhibits paintings and sculptures of the most famous modern artists from all over the world. He set the works of Gary Hume, Jeff Wall, Michael Elmgreen, Damien Hirst. This gallery is believed to be very strange and at the same time attracts hundreds of people every day. The art that is exhibit in the gallery is probably not for everybody, it shows modern life in a modern art which is very difficult to understand. The entrance to this place is always free for everybody Tuesday through Sunday from 12p.m -21p.m.
Music is also a great part of a cultural Kyiv. A great example of music is St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral. It provides concerts of organ music every day. The building itself is a masterpiece, it was constructed by a talented architect from Kiyv - V.V. Gorodetskiy. The music of Tchaikovskiy, Bakh, Frank, Puccinni is played by various talented artists and it will not leave anyone unsatisfied. Another great musical place is National Philharmonic Hall. This place gives concerts since 1863. In XIX century this Philharmonic was a place for masked balls, literary soiree and musical evenings. The pillared Hall hosted such world starts as S. Rihter, G. Rozhdestvenskiy, A. Rubenshtein, V.Fererro. In the 2000 National Philharmonic Hall received a grand from Japan. This place gives wonderful concerts of wind band, symphonic and string orchestras.
For those who like to get educated on their leisure time Kyiv kindly opens the doors of Kyiv Planetarium. It works on Friday through Sunday and has programs for all tastes and all ages. It gives a feeling of a real journey: an unknown galaxies, stars, planets. Kyiv Planetarium is not only a place for entertainment but also for studies. How was our planet formed, what are the other planets, what the sun is and many more. Every screening is unique. The information is exciting and interesting which is useful both for kids and for parents.
So indeed, Kyiv is a cultural place that has everything for everybody.
