On November 12, we gathered for “Truth-telling, Performance, and the Art of Getting Things Done: Innovating Responses to the Forced Deportation of Ukrainian Children by Russia,” a powerful conversation on one of the most urgent crises of our time.
The conversation featured George Brant, librettist commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera; Микола Кулеба
Mykola Kuleba of Save Ukraine; Katya Pavlevych of Razom for Ukraine; and moderators Derek Goldman of The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics and Gillian Huebner of the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University.
Russian authorities have forcibly separated, militarized, and transferred tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories—an egregious violation of international law and a direct assault on childhood, identity, and the future. Despite ICC arrest warrants, global accountability and child protection mechanisms are failing. And yet, amid these challenges, ordinary people—mothers, grandmothers, civil society innovators, and artists—are doing extraordinary things: creating solutions and communicating in new ways when all else fails.
One example is the Metropolitan Opera’s commission of The Mothers of Kherson, composed by Maxim Kolomiiets with a libretto by George Brant. Inspired by real journeys taken by Ukrainian mothers into occupied Crimea, the opera highlights their courage and the tireless work of advocates like Save Ukraine, which has helped bring more than 1000 children home.
This event brought together social creatives who are fighting crimes against children with truth-telling, performance, and the art of getting things done. It was co-hosted by the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues and the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University.
The work continues. On December 3, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a hearing on the abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation. The recording and witness testimonies, including from Mykola Kuleba, are available online (see link in comments).
We are grateful to all who continue to bear witness to these children’s experiences and are practicing the art of getting things done.
