The 2025 SABRE Award in the category of Educational and Cultural Institutions was jointly awarded to the Dom Master Klass cultural center, the Art Shield foundation, and Paradox PR for the creation and curation of the Kyiv Art Sessions festival.
The SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation, and Engagement) Award is one of the world’s most prestigious accolades in brand experience and communication. Projects are evaluated based on creativity, strategic vision, innovation, ethical standards, and their ability to build strong reputations.
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Over the course of the past year, the festival encompassed a complete cultural cycle in four seasonal exhibitions that showcased the depth, richness, and magnitude of contemporary Ukrainian art.
Receiving the 2025 SABRE Award was a symbolic culmination of this artistic journey of the year.
The festival took place in London at the symbolic venue of The Old Sessions House – a historic site of justice built in the late 18th century which became a platform for expressing the dignity of Ukrainian in the face of Russia’s brutal and unjust war.
The inaugural summer season, held in June 2024 in London and focused on introducing modern Ukraine – its outstanding personalities, its visual and musical arts, and the stark truth of the ongoing war.
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It featured both established masters, such as Oleksandr Dubovyk – a living witness to nearly a century of national history – along with emerging artists and Ukrainian musicians who are helping to shape new cultural realities amidst war.
The autumn season saw focus shift to the multicultural essence of Ukrainian identity – exploring Ukraine as a space where diverse nationalities and traditions coexist
This included Serhiy Parajanov’s iconic film “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors,” a concert of Ukrainian classical music by violinist Myroslava Kotorovych and the ArteHatta ensemble and performances by Crimean Tatar actor Akhtem Seitablayev and jazz vocalist Nazgul Shukaeva, a Ukrainian of Kazakh origin.
An exhibition by artist Hanna Kryvolap called “Kyiv Horizons” captured the city’s resilience – both in vivid colors and in the shadows of blackouts.
The winter season, held in February 2025, saw the “Heat Ukraine Now” charity exhibition –that by showcasing and selling over 100 works by Ukrainian artists and photographers aimed to help Ukrainians survive the harsh winter under wartime conditions. The musical highlight was a performance of Ukrainian classical music by Bohdana Pivnenko and Anna Khmara.
The final spring season looked deeper look into the soul of Ukrainian culture. It opened with the exhibition project: “The History of Ukrainian Art in 30 Artworks” that encompassed art from the era of Kyivan Rus to the present. It culminated in a monumental concert by internationally acclaimed Ukrainian pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi.
Across the four seasons the festival hosted screenings of the the documentary film series Culture vs War, dedicated to Ukrainian artists who took up arms to defend their homeland after the full-scale Russian invasion. These included appearances by those featured
including the Antytila band, Taras Kompanichenko, Akhtem Seitablayev, and Serhiy Fomenko.
In addition to London, Kyiv Art Sessions also held events at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, further deepening its cultural and intellectual impact on the global stage.