On April 25, 2024, the Faculty of Design of Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design hosted the VI International Scientific and Practical Conference “Topical Issues of Modern Design” dedicated to the 94th anniversary of the foundation of our University, which brought together well-known scientists, designers, art historians and leading experts in various fields of design from Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Moldova and other countries.

The conference was held in a hybrid format at the initiative of Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The conference was attended by over 60 educational institutions from around 20 countries:  CUMULUS International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media (Finland), Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Birmingham City University (UK), Latvian Academy of Arts (Latvia), Baltic International Academy (Latvia), Klaipeda University (Lithuania), Domys Academy (Italy), Dresden University of Technology (Germany), Kafrelsheikh University (Egypt), Technical University of Moldova (Moldova), Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chisinau (Moldova), University of the National Education Commission (Poland), Kielce University of Technology (Poland), Pomeranian Medical Secondary School  (Poland), Qilu University of Technology (People’s Republic of China), Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (People’s Republic of China), Northwestern Polytechnical University (People’s Republic of China), Xi’an Polytechnic University (People’s Republic of China), Beijing Technology and Business University (People’s Republic of China), Hunan University of Technology (People’s Republic of China), Communication University of People’s Republic of China (People’s Republic of China), Zhejiang Wanli University (People’s Republic of China), Technical University Gheorghe Asachi Iasi (Romania), National University of Arts George Enescu (Romania), Western University of Timisoara (Romania), National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Union of Designers of Ukraine, National Union of Photographers of Ukraine and institutions from different cities of Ukraine: Kyiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, etc., which prepared more than 260 abstracts for the conference.

The event was moderated by Kalyna Pashkevych, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Design at Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, who welcomed all the participants of the conference, thanked partners and colleagues from around the world for supporting Ukraine in the most difficult time of a full-scale invasion.

On the occasion of the opening, Rector of KNUTD Ivan Gryshchenko, Doctor of Science in Economics, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technologies, addressed the conference participants with a welcoming speech and wished everyone fruitful work, the formation of new ideas during the scientific discussion that will become strategic vectors for the artistic development of Ukraine and other countries. In his speech, Ivan Mykhailovych focused on the need to develop education and science in difficult wartime for Ukraine, spoke about the achievements and recognition of KNUTD in the field of art, design and creative industries, as well as the University's membership in many creative organisations and cultural projects, with a special focus on the agreement recently signed in Vilnius as part of the Three Seas Initiative Cultural Cooperation Network.

Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation of the University, Doctor of Science in Economics, Professor Liudmyla Hanushchak-Yefimenko conveyed her wishes for a successful conference.

KNUTD partners, leaders of Qilu University of Technology (People’s Republic of China) addressed the conference participants in a video message: Chen Guoxing, Secretary of Qilu University of Technology, Chu Fuxiang, Director of Qilu University of Technology, and Deputy Directors Fan Jie Qing and Quan Wei.

A video greeting was sent by the colleagues from Shaanxi University of Science and Technology – a speech by Mi Gaofeng, Deputy Director of the College of Arts and Design, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (People’s Republic of China).

Roger Bateman, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at Sheffield Hallam University (UK), expressed his sincere congratulations. The Faculty of Design of KNUTD cooperates with this university within the framework of the Twinning program.

Lukasz Murzyn, Dr Hab., Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of the National Education Commission (Poland), expressed his support for Ukraine and wishes for fruitful cooperation in a video message. He spoke about the Three Seas Initiative Cultural Cooperation Network (3SICCN), in which KNUTD and 12 other institutions from around the world are members, initiating cooperation in research in the field of culture and art.

Janis Gailitis, Head of the Management and Development Department of the Latvian Academy of Arts (Latvia), expressed his support for Ukrainians and stressed that even in the midst of war, our University, headed by Rector Ivan Gryshchenko, continues to maintain high positions in world rankings.

Natalia Rozhyn, a lecturer at the Faculty of Art, Design and Media of the University of Birmingham from the United Kingdom, addressed the conference participants with sincere congratulations from the foreign partners of the Faculty of Design of KNUTD. Teachers and students of the Faculty of Design have repeatedly visited this institution as part of academic mobility under the ERASMUS+ programme, and the creative joint projects are currently underway.

The conference was attended by partners from Moldova. On behalf of colleagues from the Technical University of Moldova, Liliana Platon, PhD, Head of the Department of Urbanism and Urban Design, delivered a welcoming speech. The conference was attended by Inga Matzcan-Linesco, Alexander Kozachenko, and the Dean of the Faculty of Design of the Technical University of Moldova, Sergey Tronchu, as well as Angela Skripchenko, Valentina Bulgaru, Olga Sugak, Victoria Danila, Marcela Irovan and others joined the plenary session online.

In a video speech, the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design of Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chisinau (Moldova), Doctor of Arts, Professor Anna Simak addressed the conference participants with wishes for fruitful cooperation. The plenary session and the conference platforms were also attended by the colleagues from Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chisinau Eugen Ryabenkyi, Olympiada Arbuz-Spatar, Daniela Roshka-Cheban and others.

Academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine Mykola Yakovlev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Member of the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, welcomed the conference participants and thanked the organizers for the high level of the conference and the wide geography of the participants.

Olena Chepelyuk, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Laureate of the Borys Paton National Prize, Rector of Kherson National Technical University, expressed her heartfelt words of greeting and support to the organizers and participants of the conference.

The KNUTD Faculty of Design has friendly relations with the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the Union of Designers of Ukraine, the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine, and the faculty members are members of these creative communities.

The honorary guest of the conference was Yuriy Borisov, Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor, and Chairman of the Board of the Union of Designers of Ukraine, who congratulated all the participants on the World Design Day, which is traditionally celebrated on 27 April.

The honorary guest of the conference was the famous Ukrainian artist Matvey Vaisberg, a painter, graphic artist, book illustrator, member of the All-Ukrainian Creative Union of Artists BZH-ART.

The partners from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture were represented by Oleksandr Kashchenko, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Member of the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of KNUCA. 

A representative of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, designer Tetiana Vasynyuk, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, conveyed greetings to the conference participants from the President of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Stanislav Dovhyi. 

Golda Vinohradska, Head of the National Sectoral Partnership in the Light Industry of Ukraine, founder and head of the FashionGlobusUkraine project, Vice President of the Confederation of Designers and Stylists of Ukraine, also conveyed her sincere congratulations.

Colleagues from different higher education institutions of Ukraine visited our University and took part in the conference: Inna Yakovets, Doctor of Arts, Professor, Head of the Design Department, Cherkasy State Technological University; Liubov Kotliar, Head of the Kyiv Organisation of the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine; Ruslana Bezuhla, Doctor of Arts, Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of Culture, Institute of Contemporary Art Problems of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences of Ukraine; Serhii Koval, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Design Department and Nataliia Danylchenko, Senior Lecturer, Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding (Mykolaiv). Elvira Bazyliuk, PhD in Engineering, Associate Professor, Head of the Design Department, Khmelnytsky National University (Khmelnytsky); Svyatoslav Berdinskykh, PhD in Art History, Associate Professor, Head of the Design Department, KROK University of Economics and Law; Natalia Udris-Borodavko, PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor, Head of the Graphic Design Department, Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts; Halyna Ripka, PhD in Engineering, Associate Professor, Head of the Light Industry Technology Department; Yegen Maznev, PhD in Engineering, Associate Professor, Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Kyiv, Ukraine; Iryna Dovzhenko, Senior Lecturer, Kyiv National I.K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Film and Television University, and other scholars.

On the same day, the six conference platforms met, with more than 260 participants from around the world – professors, associate professors, young researchers, postgraduate students, and others:

Platform 1 Art and Culturological Factors in Design (moderators – Tetiana Krotova, Doctor of Art History, Professor, and Rada Mykhailova, Doctor of Art History, Professor).

Platform 2 Trends in the Development of Art and Fashion Design (moderator – Natalia Chuprina, Doctor of Art History, Professor).

Platform 3 Information Technology of Visualization in Design (moderator – Olena Vasylieva, PhD, Associate Professor). The conference participants were greeted by Eduard Stranadko, Head of the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine, and Liubov Kotliar, Head of the Kyiv Organisation of the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine.

Platform 4 Graphic Design: Current Trends (moderator – Oleksandra Kolisnyk, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor).

Platform 5 Prospects for the Development of the Architectural Environment Design (moderators – Vadym Abyzov, Doctor of Architecture, Professor, Danylo Kosenko, PhD, Associate Professor).

Platform 6 Business and Educational Aspects of Design Activities (moderators: Kalyna Pashkevych, Doctor of Engineering, Professor, Olena Gerasymenko, PhD, Associate Professor).

The participants exchanged experience and research results on topical issues in the field of design and artistic specialties of Ukraine, other European countries and the world. The leading speakers of the conference platforms were scientists from the leading educational institutions of the world and Ukraine: Lviv National Academy of Arts, Kharkiv National Academy of Arts, Kherson National Technical University, Khmelnytsky National University, Lutsk National Technical University, V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University, National University ‘Chernihiv Polytechnic’, Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, KROK University of Economics and Law, and others. Active participants of the conference were students of the Kyiv Institute of Technology of Qilu University (People’s Republic of China) and postgraduate students of the Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (People’s Republic of China).

Responsible secretary of the conference Ruslana Khynevych, candidate of technical sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the department of multimedia design, secretaries of the conference platforms, postgraduate students of the faculty of design Nataliya Ryshkevych, Daria Kurovska, Nadiya Lyuklyan, Anastasia Yukhymchuk, Elizaveta Derevyanko, as well as student self-government of the faculty of design at headed by Daria Karpenko provided organizational support for the conference.

As part of the conference, an exhibition of works by participants of the All-Ukrainian Social Poster Contest MENTAL HEALTH dedicated to preserving the mental health of Ukrainians was organised as part of the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Programme “Are You OK?”, created at the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska and with the support of the World Health Organization. The competition is curated by Oksana Maznichenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Graphic Design at KNUTD, Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

Teachers of the KNUTD Faculty of Design Yevhen Gula, Mykhailo Rudenko, Vadym Abyzov, Sviatoslav Podlevskyi, Oksana Maznichenko, Alla Osadcha and other talented artists and craftsmen prepared an exhibition of artworks.

Colleagues from the Technical University of Moldova, Liliana Platon, Inga Matzcan-Linesco, and Alexandru Kozachenko, presented an exhibition of projects by students of the Department of Urbanism and Urban Design at TUM (Moldova).

Summarising the results of the conference, it can be stated that the problems and difficulties caused by the war did not prevent the conference from being held at a high level, in a warm, friendly scientific atmosphere. The variety of topics presented by the participants from different countries of the world testifies to the relevance and productivity of interdisciplinary approaches in the field of design, the effectiveness of interaction between representatives of science and art in research, practical work and education.

We sincerely thank all the moderators, speakers, and participants

for their participation!

We are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the opportunity to hold conferences, educate young people, and conduct research in the field of culture and art for the restoration and development of Ukraine! We believe in our Victory!

30.04.2024