News

Words in Flame

27th February, 2026

As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, the toll on the country’s cultural infrastructure continues to unfold. Among the most poignant of these losses are Ukraine’s libraries — repositories not just of books, but of collective memory, language and identity. A new travelling exhibition, Words in Flame, currently on view at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek in Leipzig until 2 April 2026, brings this stark reality into focus through documentary photography and testimony.

Organised by the Artists Support Ukraine Foundation in collaboration with the Library Country charitable foundation, Words in Flame displays a powerful series of photographic works documenting libraries and publishing houses damaged or destroyed during Russia’s full-scale invasion. The images capture a landscape of shattered shelves and gutted reading rooms, highlighting the erasure of cultural memory as well as physical infrastructure.

According to the project’s data, by the summer of 2025 at least 214 libraries in Ukraine had been completely destroyed, 904 sustained damage, and 1,492 lost all their books. Despite this devastation, the exhibition notes that 211 libraries have been able to resume at least partial operations, thanks to determined efforts by local communities, volunteers and cultural organisations.

Though currently hosted in Leipzig, the Words in Flame project has been presented in multiple locations around the world and is available in both Ukrainian and English. The materials are designed for flexible display in cultural centres, universities, libraries, embassies and public spaces.

Ukraine’s presence at the Leipzig Book Fair included a dedicated national stand featuring publishers and authors, underscoring both the vibrancy and the vulnerability of Ukrainian cultural life amid conflict. Events and discussions there explored freedom, resistance and the future of Ukrainian letters.

A Catalogue of Ukrainian Rare Books was recently released by Bookvica Rare Books and can be read here >