The installation “One Desk. Two Marks” at the International Cultural Diplomacy Forum

The installation “One Desk. Two Marks”, part of the global campaign “Every generation leaves its mark. Education shapes its legacy”, has returned to Kyiv. On 6 October, it was presented at the International Cultural Diplomacy Forum, an annual professional conference bringing together representatives of the public sector, international cultural institutions, academia, creative industries and civil society.

This year’s Forum focused on the digital dimensions of cultural diplomacy, international cultural cooperation and interdisciplinary approaches to Ukrainian studies around the world. One of the sessions highlighted successful cases of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy abroad, including the Seasons of Ukraine in France, cultural cooperation between Ukraine and Indonesia and Denmark, the production of the opera Mother of Kherson at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the exhibition Sacred Treasures from the collection of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The event brought together First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha, and Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for Humanitarian Policy – Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetyana Berezhna; representatives from cultural and art domains also attended the event.

In her address, Olena Zelenska highlighted the role of education and cultural diplomacy in shaping the future and the values that underpin a peaceful society.

“The language of culture is the most vivid, and therefore the most compelling. We can spend hours talking about Russian attacks on Ukrainian schools and citing horrifying figures. Or we can show a single school desk damaged by war. It will speak more clearly than a thousand words. This is exactly what we did with the Summit last year as part of the educational campaign ‘Every generation leaves its mark. Education shapes its legacy’. We presented it at the Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen together with UNICEF.

The campaign raised a simple question: what values guide us when we build the future?”

This is the idea at the heart of “One Desk. Two Marks”. The two halves of one school desk and the blackboard — burned from one side, intact from the other — represent two possible experiences of a generation: growing up in peace or having one’s childhood shaped by war. At the same time, the campaign speaks about the responsibility of adults for the mark that education will leave on the lives of the next generation.

Over the past year, the installation has travelled to leading international platforms. It has been presented, among other places, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the United Nations Office at Geneva, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and one of Europe’s most renowned universities, the Sorbonne.

The campaign also has a strong digital component: its materials have reached 31 million people in 32 countries across different continents and have been displayed in Times Square in New York.

Learn more about the global campaign “Every generation leaves its mark. Education shapes its legacy”, its idea, the “One Desk. Two Marks” installation and its international journey on the campaign page.