Innovations in Celebrating the 300th Anniversary of H. Skovoroda in Ukraine: a Request for National Identity

The aim of the article is to analyse the cultural and artistic events marking the 300th anniversary of H. Skovoroda’s birth as evidence of the growing need in society for an increasing number of manifestations of Ukrainian national identity. The research results have shown that respect for identity is a fundamental principle of a democratic society. A wronged identity destabilises society, as it is one of the most powerful motivators of the struggle for one’s own dignity. The presence of opportunities for expressing one’s own identity motivates personal development and contributes to the emergence of a new unique cultural product. A necessary condition for the development of culture in current conditions is respect for various forms of identity (primarily national). There is a growing demand for Ukrainian national identity in society, and the search for its markers is actively ongoing. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the analysis of cultural and artistic events that took place in Ukraine in 2022, as evidence of society’s search for Ukrainian intellectual heroes, unaffected by russia’s influence, as well as the cleansing of Ukraine’s information space of Ukraine from russian propaganda narratives. The information space of russia has been modeled for a long time in accordance with the kremlin’s power ambitions and has nothing in common with the real world since it is a space artificially created, distant from the reality of actual events. Its ideologists not only try to keep their fellow citizens within it and manipulate their consciousness but also impose such a worldview on Ukrainians with the aim of destroying Ukrainian identity. Conclusions. The cultural and artistic events dedicated to the 300th anniversary of H. Skovoroda’s birth are analysed, and the obtained results are summarised. It is established that in Ukrainian society, especially among the youth, there is a growing need to identify oneself as a bearer of Ukrainian identity; there is a search for markers of Ukrainian identity among thinkers of past centuries; new cultural and artistic forms of expressing Ukrainian identity are being developed; there is an increasing demand for declaring one’s own Ukrainian national identity.