The importance of creative industries, which lie at the crossroads of art, business, and technology, is constantly growing both at the national level and in terms of international competition. The gross value added of creative industries in Ukraine is growing rapidly and currently accounts for almost 4% of total value added of the country.

The creative environment in Ukraine benefits from the development of professional platforms, emerging creative hubs and other forms of creative cooperation, which addresses needs of entrepreneurs.

Big cities have been particularly vibrant with a rise of co-working spaces, hubs, anti-cafes, and other initiatives. These centres offer diverse services and facilities to nurture the creative ecosystem.

Ukrainian creative industries consist of the following sectors:

AUDIOVISUAL ART: cinema, television, video, animation
AUDIO ART
VISUAL ART: painting, graphics, culture, photography
ADVERTISING, marketing, public relations and other creative services
PERFORMING ARTS: live music, theatre, dance, opera, circus, puppet theatre
LITERATURE and publishing, print media
NEW MEDIA, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: programming, video games, digital technologies in the arts (3D printing; virtual, augmented, modied reality)
FASHION DESIGN
ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING
LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND MUSEUMS
TRADITIONAL CRAFTS folk arts and crafts

Find your partner for creative cooperation here.

Audiovisual Art

Audiovisual industry represents a promising domain to drive the development of a diverse range of creative subsectors in Ukraine.

As it has the potential to bring together other creative industries within its value chain (soundtrack, costume design, scriptwriting, set design, storyboarding, animation SFX), the audiovisual industry is seen as a core subsector across creative industries.

17% of GVA of all creative industries of Ukraine
4,9 thousand entities in the sector
34,8 thousand employees or 9.9% of employment in the creative industries of Ukraine

The Audiovisual Arts Industry is the third creative industry in Ukraine in terms of gross value added (GVA) – in 2019 it created 17% of GVA of all creative industries of Ukraine. This creative industry includes 5 types of economic activity – Production of films and videos, television programs, Composition of films and videos, television programs, Distribution of films and videos, television programs, Demonstration of films and Activities in the field of television broadcasting.

The audiovisual industry is growing at a rate similar to the dynamics of the Advertising, Marketing and PR industries. Nominally, the GVA of the Ukrainian audiovisual industry increased from almost by 5 since 2013.

GlobalLogic is a scalable and diversified engineering company that helps media and entertainment companies across the globe leverage sophisticated technology to deliver more engaging, data-driven viewing experiences.

GlobalLogic Ukraine’s engineers since 1987 received:

2 Oscar awards
1 Grammy Award
16 Emmy Award

GlobalLogic Ukraine’s technologies are used by musicians such as Coldplay and Linkin Park, and for creating musical soundtracks for movies such as The Hobbit and Jurassic World/

Radioaktive Film Company

Best Production Service in the World at the Shots Awards 2018

Technical solutions were used in movies:

Deadpool 2
Game of Thrones
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Star is born
Black Panther
The Favourite
Power

Ukraine is becoming an important location for filming as country offers versatile scenery: from picturesque mountains, seaside, forests steppes and even deserts, castles and fortresses of various architectural styles to industrial numerous industrial locations and the famous Chernobyl zone and the «Dead City» of Pripyat».

Netflix and HBO screen in Ukraine films and serials and Ukrainian production companies work with the global film majors and top international brands.

Find Ukrainian production companies here.

Some of music video clips shot in Ukraine:

Mark Ronson - Nothing Breaks Like a Heart ft. Miley Cyrus
NCT U 엔시티 유 'BOSS' MV
Pink Floyd - Marooned
Natalie Imbruglia - Shiver
OrelSan - Tout va bien
Hurts - Wings
NETTA - «Bassa Sababa»
MØ - Kamikaze
Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky [Short Film]
Calum Scott - You Are The Reason

Music industry

The music industry in Ukraine has become diverse and experimental as never before.

It's widely known that one of the world's most famous Christmas songs - The Carol of the Bells – was based on the Ukrainian song Shchedryk, written in 1916 by composer Mykola Leontovich, which was in turn based on the melody and lyrics of a pre-Christian folk song. Today Ukrainian academic music is presented by well-known for classical music lovers Borys Lyatoshynsky, Valentyn Silvestrov, Yevhen Stankovych and other. Oksana Lyniv – an internationally renowned conductor who is the first female conductor in the history of the Bayreuth Opera Festival.

What makes modern Ukrainian music special is the mixing of folk tunes and ethno motives with new genres like electronic music and hip-hop. Check out world-renowned singers and bands like Onuka, Dakha Brakha, Go_A, Crimean Tatar singer, Jamala and others.

Ukrainian Institute created a catalogue of bands and performers representing contemporary academic, jazz, and mainstream music. Check it to add something new to your playlist.

Advertising

Advertising, marketing and PR is the second creative industry of Ukraine in terms of GVA – in 2019 it created more than 17% of GVA of all creative industries of Ukraine.

This creative industry includes 5 types of economic activity – Activities of news agencies, Activities in the field of public relations, Research and experimental development in the field of social sciences and humanities, Advertising agencies and Mediation in advertising in the media.

17,2% of GVA of all creative industries of Ukraine
GVA of Ukrainian Audiovisual Arts Industry is 20,2 billion hryvnias
16,600 thousand entities or 8.1% of all entities of the creative industries of Ukraine
42,000 employees or 11.8% of employment in the creative industries of Ukraine

The Advertising, Marketing and PR industry is showing steady growth. Nominally, the GVA of this industry in Ukraine increased from 9.9 billion hryvnias in 2013 to 20,2 billion hryvnias in 2019. Among the economic activities related to the Advertising, Marketing and PR industry, Advertising Agencies and Mediation in the placement of advertising in the media dominate.

With the growing demand for marketing needs worldwide, art-directors, designers and illustrators create compelling content to communicate key messages through visual mediums, both for printed work and also online.

Advertising video filmed in Ukraine: Mazda, Nissan, Apple, Google, Motorola, Nike, Lacoste, Diesel, Lexus and others.

Banda – Ukrainian advertising agency clients which was recognised the most effective independent advertising agency in 20015 and 2020 according to Effie Index. Banda agency works with 15 countries around the world, creative advertising for Borjomi, Eurovision song contest, UBER, Ashtik etc.

Publishing

Ukrainian publishing industry and the book market significantly started to grow and develop since 2014. The progress affects almost every sphere of the sector including publishing, printing, distribution, selling/buying rights and specialized events. Despite the COVID-19, the year 2020 was a record year for selling rights of Ukrainian authors.

€ 100 mln volume of the market
1000 publishers with book publishing as a main activity, 340 printing houses with book printing as a main activity
biggest printing companies produce 19-20 mln copies per year
0,28 trade books per capita
more than 160 Ukrainian titles sold abroad in 2020 while since 2013 over 830 Ukrainian titles were sold
top countries purchasing rights to Ukrainian titles from 2013 to 2020 were Bulgaria (143 titles), China (98 titles), Vietnam (61 titles), Poland (45 titles), Slovakia (41 titles), the US and Czech Republic (30 titles each)
total print run for 2020 was 41,9 mln copies with 18967 titles
75% of titles sold in Ukraine are translated literature

The publishing industry in Ukraine has lots of facets which might be of interest to foreign partners, as far as it is characterized by:

Printing facilities and cutting-edge technologies for an adequate price. During the world's leading book fairs it happens that the most «advanced» publishers, who are constantly looking for new solutions and, accordingly, partners, have heard a lot about Ukrainian printing industry. Especially those who create children's books and have high requirements for printing, compliance with European standards, also publish books with complex designs of some books (for example, toy books) and looking for a fair price. In addition, foreign publishers are attracted by the fact that the Ukrainian market has an offer for many manual processes that are not available in Europe, and for which they often need to turn to China which complicates logistics processes.
Books with innovative technologies - is a rising trend among Ukrainian publishers. Companies are actively starting to use virtual and augmented reality (AR/VR) in their children's books or creating applications and games along with the printed publications and have already achieved impressive results. Publishing houses working in this direction are actively collaborating with partners from abroad.
High-quality illustrations and design are constantly being recognized on the international market by getting awards on book fairs like Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair and other professional contests. That’s also the reason for a huge demand for Ukrainian children’s literature in the world (most of the titles sold abroad account for children’s books).
Book fairs and festivals act as strategically important points in both B2C and B2B sales. Ukraine annually hosts more than 10 book events with international components with two major ones — Book Arsenal in Kyiv and Book Forum in Lviv (just two of them gather app. 80 000 visitors and guests from from over 50 countries).

Stakeholders

Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) — is a state institution under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. It is designed to shape state policy in the book industry, promote book reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, encourage translation activities, and popularize Ukrainian literature abroad.

Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association (UPBA) — is an all-Ukrainian charitable organization established on the basis of legality, humanity, common interests and equality of rights of its members, voluntariness, self-government and transparency, to ensure charitable activities in the interests of publishing and book distribution in Ukraine.

For more information about Ukrainian publishing read the review of the sector here.

Fashion Design

In recent decades, Ukrainian fashion has become a full-fledged component of the creative industry. Fashion design includes textiles, models, shoes, jewellery, accessories and other interior items, other fashion goods as well as personal or household goods.

Ukraine has a growing number of fashion designers representing broad style range. From pieces inspired by tradition of Ukrainian national costume and embroidered dresses (vyshyvanka) to modern fashion.

Today, Ukrainian fashion designers enjoy well-deserved recognition around They are shortlisted for LVMH Prize, have experience in presenting collections during Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris or New York Fashion Week.

Looking for Ukrainian fashion designers? Check out Fashion Directory of Ukraine which contains information about the best representatives of all components of the Ukrainian fashion industry.

Ukrainian Fashion Week became the first professional fashion event in Eastern Europe in 1997 and today it is a driving force of the Ukrainian fashion industry, a place where the Ukrainian fashion becomes world-wide.

It is a unique event in Ukraine that corresponds entirely to the world standards for prêt-a-porter shows, takes place twice a year, gathers more than 60 participants, accredits more than 200 Ukrainian and international mass media and is attended by over 20000 guests every time. You can learn more about the new generation of Ukrainian fashion designers on Ukrainian fashion week website.

Traditional Crafts

Knowledge, ancient traditions, technological skills, artistic styles, professional craft accumulated for centuries and artistic experience were passed from generation to generation all over Ukraine.

That is why crafts express the continuity, identity and cultural diversity of a particular region or community.

Ukraine is famous for:

Embroidery
Pottery
Decorative painting
Weaving
Art wood carving
Toys manufacturing
Pysanky creation
Wicker weaving
Blacksmith craft

Ukrainian traditional crafts are included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Among them are the following arts:

Tradition of Kosiv painted ceramics

The tradition of Kosiv painted ceramics – which include dishes, ceremonial items, toys and tiles – arose in the 18th century, reaching its golden age in the mid-19th century.

The ceramics are used in everyday life and have a practical and artistic value. Masters work in family workshops and small craft workshops and the practice constitutes an identity marker and sign of affiliation with the community. Please click here to learn more.

Petrykivka decorative painting as a phenomenon of the Ukrainian ornamental folk art

Petrykivka painting is the Ukrainian arts and crafts patterned folk style that originated from the village of Petrykivka village.

Today the «Petrykivka» Center of Folk Art operates in the village, which brings together about 40 famous masters of Petrykivka painting. Please click here to learn more.

Visit authenticukraine.com.ua to learn more about traditional crafts.

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