2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Since 2022, the SPK has established a new format for cultural education aimed at children and young people aged between six and 13 who have had to flee Ukraine. Since August 2022, the "Museum Club" has been taking place on a weekly basis at Haus Bastian on Museum Island. Accompanied by a tandem consisting of a Ukrainian-speaking and a German-speaking facilitator, participants explore the collections on Museum Island and try out artistic techniques. In addition, the funding from Berliner Sparkasse ensures further offers such as free project days and holiday workshops for groups of children and young people from Ukraine.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, says: "Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the SPK has shown solidarity with the country in a variety of ways - for example with material aid in the field of cultural property protection for Ukrainian cultural and scientific institutions, with programmes for Ukrainian scholarship holders, and through the mediation of Ukrainian culture in Berlin. In our activities, it is also important to us to build lasting networks that form an anchor point for the Ukrainian community in Germany. The museum club for children and young people is a successful example of this."

"Supporting people from Ukraine is a matter close to our hearts. The museum club is a wonderful project that helps the children to leave their traumatic experiences behind and find a second home. Because they are the future of Ukraine," explains Kai Uwe Peter, Managing Director of Sparkassenverband Berlin.

"We are delighted to be able to continue and expand the 'Museum Club' until the end of 2025 thanks to the support of Berliner Sparkasse. It is important to us to make a contribution to offering children and young people who have had to leave their homes exposed to the Russian war of aggression a regular programme for exchange and creative work," says SPK Vice President Gero Dimter.

In a stimulating atmosphere and in dialogue with other participants, the collections of the Museum Island are explored and own artistic works are created. The open programme has been further developed according to the interests and ideas of the group and has established itself as a regular meeting place for children and young people from Ukraine.

• https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/haus-bastian-zentrum-fuer-kulturelle-bildung/projekte/willkommen-museumsclub-fuer-kinder-und-jugendliche-aus-der-ukraine/
• Press photo: www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html

Ukrainian aid from the SPK

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has been supporting Ukrainian cultural and scientific institutions and academics in various ways. On the one hand, by helping people to help themselves, for example by providing packaging material to protect cultural assets, and through collegial exchange. The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin supports public libraries in Ukraine with storage capacity, among other things, so that what is being attacked can be digitised there. Scholarship programmes have been set up and study visits to SPK institutions made possible, for example with the help of the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation, the VW Foundation and the Philipp Schwartz Initiative of the Humboldt Foundation.

The aim is also to present Ukrainian culture in all its facets through exhibitions and events in Berlin. As part of the Making Spaces event series, sponsored by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Board of Trustees, the SPK is focussing on Ukrainian cultural and literary life in various institutions. On 14 March 2024, the Kupferstichkabinett will present the artist Vadim Sidur (*1924 †1986) - a Ukrainian-Soviet graphic artist and sculptor whose sculptures can also be seen in public places in Germany, such as the Hofgarten in Düsseldorf or the Amtsgerichtsplatz in Berlin Charlottenburg.

Since 13 February, his works have been on display in the Gemäldegalerie as part of the exhibition "Auftakt. From Odessa to Berlin. European Painting of the 16th to 19th Centuries", twelve paintings from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art can be seen as a preview of a major BKM-funded special exhibition that will bring around 60 paintings from Odessa into dialogue with works from the Berlin collections from January 2025: https://www.smb.museum/ausstellungen/detail/auftakt-von-odessa-nach-berlin/