World Vyshyvanka Day, UKraine, an annual holiday celebrated internationally in May that helps preserve the iconic Ukrainian embroidered shirt (vyshyvanka) as an important element of the heritage of the Ukrainian people has won the Public Choice Award 2022 at the European Heritage Awards Ceremony.
This impressive initiative received the largest number of votes, cast via an online poll with the participation of almost 11,000 citizens from all over Europe.
It was selected among the 30 finalists from 18 countries of the 2022 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards.
During the Ceremony, held at the State Opera in Prague, during the European Cultural Heritage Summit, the five Grand Prix laureates were also announced. They are: Silk Now, a Horizon 2020 project that produced an intelligent computational system that goes beyond current technologies to improve our understanding of European silk heritage; Symphony (Spain), an immersive audiovisual experience to raise greater awareness for the heritage of classical music among new generations using state-of-the-art technologies; Rivers of Sofia (Bulgaria) an initiative that made the artificial river beds of Sofia publicly accessible spaces for the first time in 80 years by means of pop-up architectural interventions and cultural and educational events; Va Sentiero (Italy) a three-year grassroots expedition undertaken by a group of young enthusiasts who walked and documented the entire 8000km length of the Sentiero Italia, the longest hiking route in the world. 3000 participants from 10 countries and many local communities took part; and Costa Carras (Greece) who passed away this year and who, for over 50 years, worked tirelessly in favour of Greece’s and Europe’s cultural and natural heritage to create a more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful world for present and future generations.
All winners received a monetary award of €10,000.
“Solidarity with Ukraine is reflected in this year’s programme of the European Cultural Heritage Summit, and I believe that together, we will contribute to helping Ukrainian cultural heritage.” said Martin Baxa, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic. “The EU prize for cultural heritage honours individuals and communities for their outstanding commitment to preserve our rich European heritage. said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth who was chairing the ceremony with Minister Baxa and Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have been run by Europa Nostra ever since with the support of the EU’s Creative Europe programme. Since 2013, the EIB Institute has been partnering with Europa Nostra in the framework of the 7 Most Endangered Programme.
