Ukrainian museums plan for reconstruction - proposals for the country's future at conference in Berlin
Press release from 05/28/2024
Despite the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the country's museums are looking to the future and are now presenting joint proposals for a comprehensive reconstruction of the country. At the Berlin conference "From Crisis to Future: New Responsibilities for Museums in Ukraine", representatives of the founding institutions will present and discuss their demands on 28 and 29 May in the James-Simon-Galerie on Museum Island. The conference, under the patronage of the governments of Ukraine, Poland and Germany, will bring together Ukrainian museum experts with partner organisations and representatives of the three governments.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth explains: "Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, thousands of cultural institutions and cultural assets in Ukraine have been destroyed. These destructions are very often targeted attacks by Putin's Russia on Ukrainian culture and identity. It is therefore all the more important that we support Ukraine wherever we can in protecting, strengthening and rebuilding cultural assets and cultural institutions. Museums are particularly important as mediators of history and culture, as places of encounter and exchange. It is therefore important for the German government to support this initiative by Ukrainian museums."
"This will be the largest meeting of Ukrainian museums since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," emphasises Margorzata Ławrowska, CEO of the OBMIN Foundation, on behalf of a broad network of organisations that have made this conference possible.
"It is very important to think about the future now, even though the brutal war is still going on. Russia is systematically trying to destroy Ukrainian culture and identity. This is demonstrated by the targeted attacks on cultural institutions over the past two years. I am therefore convinced that cultural institutions in particular will make a significant contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine," said Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is organising the conference together with the OBMIN Foundation and the Ukrainian Institute in Germany.
The most important topic of the conference will be the demands that the Ukrainian museums have developed in recent weeks in online workshops organised by the OBMIN Foundation together with the Ministry of Culture. Their goal is a comprehensive concept for the future of Ukraine, which they want to make "a better place to live, work and visit". In their view, this requires much more than the reconstruction of infrastructure or buildings. Museums could play an important role in promoting discussions and strengthening civil society.
Despite the war, the museums also suggest seeing opportunities for the future and developing Ukraine into "the most inclusive country in the world", with full access for all those who were directly and indirectly physically and psychologically damaged in the war. This inclusion also includes integrating people and institutions such as museums, who had to flee the temporarily occupied territories, into the social structures in the rest of Ukraine. There are already good examples of this: Museums from occupied territories display their rescued artefacts in partnership with museums in free Ukraine or have moved their offerings to the internet.
The museums draw confidence from such experiences that the future Ukraine could also become the country with the "most modern and visitor-friendly" museum concepts. The reconstruction must be used to create "museums for the 21st century" that remain relevant for visitors, especially young people. The museums also see great opportunities in increased international cooperation - not only to support Ukraine, but also as an enrichment for the rest of Europe: Ukraine's contribution to European cultural heritage should be made more visible across Europe. Overall, the museums see it as their responsibility to contribute to "making Ukraine a model of what a society that promotes freedom in all its aspects can achieve."
Detailed conference programme at:
Programme at a glance
28 May, James Simon Gallery:
09:30: Opening and Keynote Speech
11:10: Panel 1: The mission of museums in municipal and regional reconstruction. Museums as objects of infrastructure and urbanistic aspects of reconstruction
14:00: Panel 2: The mission of museums to strengthen (civil) society
16:15: Panel 3: Ukrainian culture as part of Europe's common cultural heritage: protecting, restoring, communicating
29 May, James Simon Gallery:
9:00: Opening
9:10: Panel 4: Transnational Perspectives on Heritage and Memory in Eastern Europe: The Responsibility of Museums for Narratives in Times of War (and how this can strengthen civil society)
10:30: Signing of the agreement between German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.) and the State Archival Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.). V.) and the State Archival Service of Ukraine
11:30: Presentation of the Study "Beyond Greener Grass: Strategies
Towards Ukrainian Transnational Cultural Reconstruction"
12:00: Discussion and conclusion