What Should the Ukrainian Hermitage Be Like?
The recent statement by President Viktor Yushchenko about the need to create a National Hermitage at Kyiv’s Arsenal was met with a mixed response. The president’s statement came as a surprise to many museum workers. It is still not clear what principles will be followed to create the future museum. Many countries would no doubt like to have their own Hermitages, Louvres, Uffizis, etc. Wishful thinking aside, the fact is that imperial dynasties spent centuries piecing together these huge collections. For centuries Ukraine had no state of its own and therefore has no such collections, nor will it have any in the near future. The Ukrainian capital is home to museums featuring wonderful collections of artwork, but they are not large enough. Even if we were to combine all the Kyiv museums into one, we would still not have a museum on a par with the St. Petersburg Hermitage, whose collection features close to 3 million items. This is an indisputable fact.
The questions that are arising in connection with the president’s statement have nothing to do with the future museum’s name, which may be changed. The big question is what is there to display in the new museum? Premises have already been found for the future museum: Kyiv’s old Arsenal, which until recently housed a munitions factory. Over a year ago, the Cabinet of Ministers placed the Arsenal in the care of the Ministry of Culture and Arts. The construction of the Arsenal’s main building, begun in 1784 opposite Kyiv’s Pecherska Lavra Cave Monastery, lasted for nearly two decades. The square two-story building has a perimeter of 800 meters, and served the needs of the military for over two centuries. But at one point Ukraine discovered that it had too much weaponry, and its plants became redundant. So the munitions plant at the Arsenal was scrapped. And if it weren’t for its architectural status, the Arsenal would have been torn down to make way for hotels, casinos, and fitness centers.
This is the root of the problem. The Ministry of Culture sought to resolve it by announcing a competition for the best design for a museum and exhibition complex called Artistic Arsenal, intended to house various museums, exhibitions, theaters, cinemas, and halls. Not surprisingly, Viktor Pinchuk’s charitable fund won the competition, which was held just before the presidential elections. Say what you want, but 7 hectares of centrally located floor space is too great a temptation to resist. To consolidate its grip on the Arsenal, in 2004 the fund staged a short-lived exhibit of contemporary art called “A Farewell to Arms.” Aside from a handful of good pieces, the exhibit mostly featured works by artists with clearly unhealthy imaginations, which prompted generally negative press reviews. Now that the new president and his team have come to power, the plans to convert the Arsenal into a museum and exhibition complex have not changed significantly, except for the name. It is a brilliant idea to save this architectural monument by refashioning it into a museum; the only downside is a complete lack of understanding of the ultimate goal of this undertaking. So far the empty building is unheated and is deteriorating with each passing day.
We are faced with a paradoxical situation: the existence of premises with a floor space of up to 15,000 square meters and a name for the new museum, but nothing to display in it, since museum items of the National Hermitage are nonexistent. It seems that the renovated building will be used for displays of private collections and exhibits from existing state museums, because Ukraine still cannot afford to purchase valuable items at international auctions. This is precisely what troubles museum workers. Suspicions are afoot that officials may once again carve up existing museum collections and take their most precious exhibits to the so-called Hermitage. Memories are still fresh of former president Leonid Kuchma’s plans to create a Museum of Masterpieces in Horodetsky’s building by removing the best exhibits from state museums. Ukrainian museums were often subjected to this practice in the Soviet period. For example, on orders from the top echelons of the Soviet leadership, between 1950 and 1960 the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve transferred thousands of items, including numerous rarities, to various museums throughout the USSR: Kyiv, Lviv, Briansk, Kirovohrad, Vilnius, Kharkiv, Simferopol, etc. It is time to stop fragmenting collections and bringing disorder into museum documentation. Perhaps only a few of the nation’s leaders are aware of the true state of affairs in the museum sector. For various reasons many items cannot be displayed: some of them require complex and long-term restoration, while others are meant only for researchers. To preserve our cultural heritage and bring it to the public are the main goals of museums, which, despite their limited resources, are still managing to do so. To improve this work and raise it to an international level, the museums sector needs a management reform along with an increase in budget spending and higher wages for museum workers.
The problem of stocking the Arsenal with exhibits can be resolved only by creating a single state museum and exhibition complex. The most important thing is for this process to be managed by people who know the museum business. But for starters, we have to decide what new museums Kyiv and Ukraine need in the first place. What would impress both Ukrainians and foreigners — perhaps the history of Ukrainians and peoples that inhabited our land in the distant past? Several names suggest themselves: museum of Trypillian culture, Scythian and Sarmatian museum, Slavonic museum, museum of icons and silverwork, military history museum, Arsenal museum, etc. Some of them could feature items from the collection of the Archeology Institute or private collections bought by the state, as well as collections from the National Bank of Ukraine. We should not forget about other departmental museums (the Security Service, Interior Ministry, Customs Service, etc.), which store antiques confiscated from the population. Various Kyiv-based museums could also be included in the new museum complex. This would require the creation of an organizing committee with the participation of leading museum experts. But so far they have been excluded from this process; the impression is that their opinions do not matter.
It makes sense to approve a plan for the layout of the new museum before converting the former plant into museum premises. Exhibit halls, storage rooms, and staff rooms should be fully equipped; the second floor of the old munitions factory is ideally suited for this. After renovations it will have spacious, bright halls to house many museums and exhibits.
The ground floor of the Arsenal is more difficult to adapt to a museum. Here the interior with its columns and vaulted ceilings must be preserved. This floor would be suitable for a national military history museum of Ukraine. An independent country needs such a museum that would be a center for the study and popularization of our nation’s heroic past and the patriotic upbringing of young people. Bulky military hardware and armaments could be displayed in the main building because its halls have high ceilings.
The project to restore the Arsenal and convert it into a museum carries a hefty price tag. Funds for this purpose could already be used this year if the country’s leadership shelves the plans to rebuild the Church of the Tithes.
Viktor Pinchuk recently complained on television that his attempts to create a museum of contemporary Ukrainian art at the Arsenal are being blocked. However, the location of private museum with “peeing boys” in the vicinity of historical museums and major religious venues is clearly inappropriate.
We would like to hope that the old Arsenal will not be privatized by business individuals, and that several years from now it will become a wonderful museum and exhibition complex and Ukraine’s pride and joy. We can accomplish this through a concerted effort, the museum’s name notwithstanding.
