Choices, Decisions, Responsibility: What will the cultural program of LMF 2025 be like?
What shapes Utopia in our eyes?
Choices, decisions, responsibility.
This triad, the focal topic of this year’s LMF, carries a stern resonance in any language.
It feels like a flawless logical progression, almost impossible to challenge.
But is it really so linear, so deliberate? Do we weigh our options, make a choice, decide, and then bear the consequences? Neuroscientists suggest otherwise: choices and decisions happen beneath our conscious awareness; we only make sense of it afterward, justifying what happened beyond our control, sparked by a fleeting neural pulse, like an electric current in the brain.
So, what truly drives us? Why do we “decide” to keep fighting when all hope seems lost? What compels us, contra spem spero, to persist in battling for a fairer world and confronting global challenges? And if we find ourselves trapped in a full-blown dystopia, what shapes Utopia in our eyes?
As part of LMF 2025’s cultural program, Ukrainian artists, each in their own way, reflect on that imagined, elusive—perhaps, for some, irretrievably lost—
idealistic future,
a dream of a better tomorrow that fuels our choices and decisions,
the responsibility for which calls us to take a stand.
What's in the Program?
Prince Buba will open the program with an audio installation "Lanivshchyna" – an analog sound composition of the steppe created with reel-to-reel and cassette tape recorders. This continues the artist’s exploration of place memory and the transformation of sound as part of experience.
Oleksandr Naselenko will present a photo exhibition "Akerman Fortress," taken in his hometown of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. Returning to the depiction of the iconic form of his hometown was a response to the isolation caused by shelling and the inability to cross the Dniester Bridge.
Tereza Barabash will show the installation "Under the Wall" – a field of white paper flowers, each symbolizing a child killed by war. This project, created in 2022 in Poland, is traveling the world, constantly changing – as, unfortunately, the number of victims continues to grow.
Lviv Media Forum 2025: City Tour
Participants of LMF 2025 will have the opportunity to discover the historical and cultural features of Lviv during a guided tour. The journey begins at the Lviv Opera House, one of the city’s major architectural landmarks.
Then, participants will stroll through the streets of the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and learn more about its history and atmosphere.
The next stop will be the Memorial to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, dedicated to those who died for Ukraine's freedom during the Revolution of Dignity.
The walk will continue to Marsove Pole (Field of Mars), which holds significant meaning in the context of Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for independence.
The final stop will be the Superhumans Rehabilitation Center, where participants will see how innovation, resilience, and humanity come together to support Ukraine’s veterans on their recovery journey.
Power Tracks: Opening Night at LMF 2025
LMF 2025 invites guests from around the world to its backyard and asks one simple question in advance: What’s your personal soundtrack for recharging? What do you play when you need energy? What songs lift you up, spark inspiration, and help you keep going? DJ T-One will create a unique set from your answers—songs that inspire, energize, and help you keep going. This all happens at KIVSH’s creative space, where the evening will turn into a space for conversations, new connections, and true community.
Living Cultures, Shared Tables: Evening of Local Hospitality in Lviv Skansen
On the second day of LMF 2025, Crimean Tatar, Jewish, and Galician cultures will come together for an atmospheric evening dedicated to gastronomic and musical heritage. Lola Landa, restaurateur and co-owner of the family restaurant "Jerusalem," Lerane Khaibullaieva, journalist and owner of the restaurant "Crimean Courtyard," and Marianna Dushar, researcher of Galician cuisine, food anthropologist, and founder of the "Pani Stefa" project, will prepare dishes from the intangible cultural heritage of Crimean Tatars, Jews, and Ukrainians from Galicia.
Guests will be treated to traditional dishes accompanied by a specially curated playlist that blends contemporary music from all three cultures. Those interested will have the opportunity to join a tour of artistic projects and interesting exhibits that will add new impressions to the evening.
LMF 2025 Closing Party: Let The Song Be Among Us
The LMF 2025 closing party will take place at the Public Media Academy at Suspilne Lviv. The Museum of Broadcasting, Suspilne Mediateka archives, and a newly renovated TV studio will provide a glimpse into the journey of Ukrainian public media—one that resonates deeply with the country's history.
For the final evening, sound artist and researcher of sonic landscapes, Anna Khvyl, will create a special DJ set.
Mixing 1970–80s Ukrainian estrada with old-school house and garage from the same era, this music, born from the fight for freedom and self-expression, will bring the evening to life.
The set’s title references the legendary song by Volodymyr Ivasiuk, whose voice could not remain silent. His music became a source of inner strength—still giving us the fire to move forward.