The 80th Avignon Festival, one of Europe's leading theatre and performing arts events, has opened, with several events dedicated to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute in France has announced.
On 15 July, the festival will host a discussion of Amadoka, a diptych created by director Jules Audry and the team of Kyiv's Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre. The project's French premiere took place in October 2025, with a revival scheduled for January 2027. The Ukrainian part of the production is set to premiere in Kyiv in December 2026.
On 16 July, Oleksandra Matviychuk — human rights lawyer, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate — will take part in a discussion alongside cultural manager Olha Diatel. The conversation, focusing on Ukrainian identity, will be moderated by journalist Jean-Marie Durand.
Also participating in the festival until 15 July is Yelyzaveta Nykytiuk, a Kyiv-based actress and multidisciplinary artist, who is taking part in the Transmission Impossible residency. After four years of classical acting training, she turned to the independent theatre scene to explore the actor's subjectivity and artistic responsibility in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. Her current practice focuses on developing a new performative language through physical and spatial exploration of the local landscape.