The living past

On May 18 Ukraine took part for the first time in the Night of the Museums, a pan-European event that has been held for the past 10 years. Ukraine was prompted to join this fascinating action by a letter from its Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which was sent in response to a letter from France’s Ministry of Culture and Communications, the initiator of the Europe-wide Night of the Museums.

More than a hundred museums in Paris alone joined this year’s action. The scope of this event is far more modest in Ukraine, but quite a few museums are taking part, Zynovii Mazuryk, vice-president of the Ukrainian Committee of the International Council of Museums, told The Day. The museums of Lviv most actively responded to the letter sent by our culture ministry. The Ivan Franko Literary and Memorial Museum marked the event with live jazz music and recitations of Franko’s poetry. According to Mazuryk, who visited several museums during the event, there were a lot of people eager to partake in the Night of the Museums.

Ukraine’s culture ministry is not exactly rushing to draw conclusions about the recent event because it did not make any well-coordinated efforts, and every region and every museum adopted its own approach to the task.

The demand for museums in Ukraine is notably increasing with every passing year, and many of them are gradually being restored. There are still problems galore because it is the state that is supposed to maintain museums. Problems are mainly concentrated in the financial sphere, although there are increasingly more sponsors, who are eager to provide monetary assistance to museums. In spite of very low salaries, the main and most valuable “sponsors” are usually young people, who are working in museums, where they are introducing radically new approaches and a sense of dynamism. Practically every museum in Ukraine is now becoming an open, living facility rather than a dyed-in-the- wool conservative institution.

The Day has been tracking the changes that Ukraine’s museums have undergone in the last few years.

Liudmyla STANISLAVSKA, director of the Kamianets-Podilsky Historical Museum-Preserve:

“In the past few years, museums have largely dropped their outdated views and begun to opt resolutely for a market-economy approach to become an integral part of Ukraine’s sociocultural, economic, and political life. That is why today our museum, like other well-developed exhibiting institutions, is searching for new forms of activity and trying to broaden our outreach. Our goal now is not only to keep visitors satisfied but also to encourage them to bring their friends. Since 2007 we have been preparing a historical section called ‘Podillia and Kamianets-Podilsky in the 20th and 21st Centuries’ and are planning to build an exposition called ‘The History of Podillian Fortifications and the Role of the Kamianets Fortress in this System (10th-12th centuries).’

“We have already reconstructed the defense system of Kamianets Castle during the biggest Turkish invasion of 1672. We are now implementing a large number of new projects. There are nighttime excursions within the walls of the Old Fortress. The dramatized show is based on 16th and 17th-century historical events and characters. During the show visitors have a chance - together with the ‘headman’ and his ‘retinue’ - to acquaint themselves with the fortress’s history and weaponry, compete in archery and crossbow shooting events, listen to historical songs performed by bandura players, perform original Podillian dances, and indulge their taste buds with Ukrainian cuisine.

“This year the picture gallery was the site of traditional Ukrainian Easter egg-painting and photography master classes. We are now expanding the range of our services by selling books and brochures, arranging an exhibit of crossbows, and holding commercial exhibits, exhibitions and sales, corporate parties, project launches, and advertising actions. All this has produced results: 222,908 people visited our museum in 2007, and 8,755 excursions took place. Incidentally, by a decision of an expert group, our museum has been placed on a list of 25 participants in an international project that is part of the MATRA/Museum of Ukraine program sponsored by the Dutch foreign ministry.

“But this is not the limit, and we are planning to carry out many new projects. Now we are working on setting up a memorial room dedicated to the Kamianets native Mykyta Hodovanets, the creator of the modern Ukrainian fable, as well as an historical section that will range from 1917 to the present day, and reflect the Ukrainian National Revolution of 1917-21, collectivization, the manmade famines, and World War II. Everybody can help by donating documents and objects, including furniture, because the exposition will show both the political and everyday life, as well as socioeconomic aspects.

“One of our priorities is to organize stationary exhibitions. Kamianets residents can now visit between 14 and 16 art exhibits every day. High on the list is The Day’s photo exhibit, which is very popular in Kamianets-Podilsky. It often gets positive comments. I would like to thank all those who helped us develop this difficult project. I call on Ukrainians to revere their past, which will help us understand the situation today and continue to develop and open up new horizons of world politics.”

Yulia LYTVYNETS, chief curator at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv:

“Our museum has been sparking more and more interest. When I first came to work at the museum in 2001, there were four to eight visitors a day. There were no lineups. Now a lot has changed: first of all, the atmosphere in the museum and the change of generations. A museum employee is there for life. If you are young when you start working here, you will be carried out at the end. This is the specific nature of our profession. Those who are coming to work today are young and interested. Sometimes people say that young people will not work for such low pay. They will. When new ideas began to emerge, the museum opened up. In my opinion, a museum is a social institution, not just a scholarly one. As soon as it became an open place, visitors began coming in droves. When we hold large exhibits, we don’t have enough personnel.”

Olha KOPIL, director, Sergei Koroliov Museum of Cosmonautics, Zhytomyr:

“The attendance rate at museums depends a lot on people’s social situation. I remember the sad days, when there were massive wage arrears. Our halls were empty then, and the emptiness scared you stiff. But when the salaries started to be paid, visitors began coming again. Schoolteachers and pupils began to come, excursions were resumed. Attendance is rising. In the Soviet era, when our museum only consisted of the memorial house where Koroliov was born, we would get an average of 50,000 visitors a year. They came from every region of the USSR. After the long slump, which I mentioned above, the museum began gradually to regain its popularity: last year, when we organized a few mass-scale events, we had about 40,000 visitors, but there was no money. We received the money by Koroliov’s 100th birth anniversary and managed to renovate the memorial house.

“There are more and more problems in the Outer Space pavilion because the older it gets, the more repairs it needs, and we are always strapped for cash. We have a plan to enlarge the pavilion, but the city authorities refused to approve the previous project. Valerii Holovatenko, the head of the Architecture and Urban Development Department, said that a museum like ours needs something ritzier. But nobody has proposed any other project. “We also wanted to add a planetarium and some auxiliary structures to it. Advertising could also help increase the museum’s popularity. But, once again, we are short of funds and sometimes we just don’t have any time. Our problems are similar to the ones experienced by other museums in the region because culture is financed according to the ‘leftover principle.’ In other words, funds are allotted for tiny salaries, heating bills, and security. That’s it. But what about procuring exhibits?

“As for renovations, there seems to be some progress. For example, the old magistrate’s building, now under reconstruction, is going to house the regional ethnographic museum. To improve the prospects for museums, there must be an impetus for the tourism sector as a whole. Museums alone cannot improve matters because we have to revamp the entire infrastructure, hotels, roads, service, and so on. I wish this sector would develop as it does in European countries: for example, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia tourism is an essential part of revenues. When the highways to Zhytomyr got signs advertising our museum and others, they increased the number of visitors who found us by following these signs. This information should also be available on city streets. But it is difficult for museums themselves to do this because of the large funds that are involved. On the positive side, other urban and regional organizations are actively cooperating with us because we couldn’t possibly do everything by ourselves.

Oleh BAZYLEVYCH, research associate at the Pysanka Museum, Kolomyia:

“Ukrainian Easter eggs have never been out of focus, especially at Easter. As you know, this is the world’s only Ukrainian Easter egg museum. On Easter Sunday we get visitors from Ukraine and abroad. It is difficult to talk about trends, like the age of visitors or something like that, but I can say for sure that many more tourists have been visiting our museum since the Bukovel Ski Resort was opened. People are enriching their cultural background, and visiting our museum is often a stage in this process.”

Nadia KAPUSTINA, director of the Yavornytsky Historical Museum, Dnipropetrovsk:

“I can say that the popularity of our museum is gradually increasing. A significant role in this is played by our strengthened material base. In the past few years the state has provided full funding for our utility bills. There was a time when the museum was not heated in the winter. The problem of museum security has also been almost solved. Funds are being allotted for exhibit procurement as well as renovations and major construction. The latter is especially important for us because out of the five museum buildings two were built in the 19th century and three in the early 20th century. Now we need to renovate the second floor of the Literary Museum of the Dnipro Region.

“Still on the drawing board is the reconstruction of E. Blavatska’s memorial house. Another project is the construction of a lapidarium, a separate exhibition hall to display stone sculptures. Naturally, things are far from ideal. In order to develop, we have to show resourcefulness and attract sponsors. Thank God, there are people who are not indifferent to the plight of our national culture. Our sponsors recently helped build a new doorway in the museum’s central building, and they are purchasing new exhibit items and paying the exhibition transportation costs. This is very important because exchange exhibits draw the greatest number of visitors. We display them in the museum’s main building and a special room at the Yavornytsky Memorial House.

“Recently, an exhibit of Taras Shevchenko’s art works brought from Kyiv was shown there. Now we are showing canvases by old Ukrainian painters, such as Repin, Slastion, and Samokysh from Kharkiv museums. The attendance rate immediately went up because many people cannot afford to travel to the capital or another regional center to see paintings or museum exhibits. The exhibit of Scythian gold, including the famous pectoral, was very popular with urbanites. The conclusion is: if museums are to continue to develop, they should diversify their work patterns. For example, since 2005 we have been holding nocturnal escorted tours of the museum, called ‘Man and the Steppe,’ which feature special lighting effects, demonstrations of Zaporozhian saber fights, etc.

“I should mention that a lot of young people have come to work with us in the last while. Most of them are creative people with initiative. Although their salaries are not very big, they have a good chance to grow in the field of scholarship. The museum is also up to its eyes in work. All I can say is that the changes in our life are prompting us to continue updating our exhibits. The room where we display the region’s postwar history is still not open because it should also present the history of Ukrainian rocket production. Dnipropetrovsk is Ukraine’s space capital and we have things to show. The only snag is lack of funds. Once we solve this problem, our museum will put on a very interesting exposition that will definitely attract both Ukrainian visitors as well as foreigners.”

Olena HRYNEVYCH, section chief Mykolaiv Ethnographic Museum:

“The chief problem that worries our staff is the lack of normal working conditions. The museum has 108,000 exhibits but just two rooms where we can display them. We need new premises. The building that houses the museum does not suit us. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people come to our museum every year to learn about the history of our region. Interest in history is growing, and along with it the number of visitors. Unfortunately, we cannot display all the exhibits that we have in our collection. Both the municipal and the regional authorities have repeatedly promised to find us suitable premises. Something has been done to this effect, but the museum is still squeezed into two rooms, while the younger generation is becoming more interested in our history.

“Another problem is the low salaries of our museum staff and insufficient attention to their needs from the district, city, and regional authorities. It’s a good thing that our sponsors and patrons are helping museums. But our employees are still hoping for more substantial government support.”