The Ukrainian Home marked anniversary of the Lenin Museum

On April 20 the Ukrainian Home celebrated its 20th anniversary. It should be admitted that the celebration was quite unusual. The cultural center decided to recall and show its visitors what it received as gifts over 20 years of its functioning as the Ukrainian Home and in its “previous life,” when it was still Lenin Museum.

The anniversary exhibition was launched on April 20. In fact, only a few guests were invited to the opening, mostly diplomats and politicians who viewed the exhibits to the Soviet music hits. The rest of the visitors can come to see the exhibition from April 21 until May 5.

The exhibition consists of three parts. The collection from the fund of “Gifts for Presidents of Ukraine” – nearly 500 items that were presented to the four of Ukraine’s presidents by the state and parliament leaders of other countries – is displayed in the central hall. We should note that among the many statues, honorary awards, and decorative weapons one can see unique items in terms of artistic value that should be open for permanent public access. According to the organizers, the collection of the fund “Gifts for Presidents of Ukraine” is currently stored in the Vernadsky National Library, however, perhaps soon it will be “moved” to the Ukrainian Home, where they plan to open a permanent exposition on one of its floors.

Another part of the exhibition features items from the Ukrainian Home own funds: works of modern Ukrainian artists and sculptors and, as an extension of the main theme of the exhibition, a collection of gifts made to the Vladimir Lenin Museum and the Ukrainian Home. According to the organizers, there were presented the unique things that were made in a single copy. Among them there are really impressive exhibits like, for example, the collection of ancient Ukrainian icons presented by the State Customs Committee of Ukraine.

“In my opinion, this exhibition is quite interesting,” Oleksii POHORELOV, general director of the Ukrainian Association of Press Publishers told The Day about his impressions. “If you look back at history, the building itself was created before the Olympic Games of 1980 and was meant to be the Museum of Lenin. Thus, many gifts were presented to the Lenin Museum and not the Ukrainian Home, which it became only after the well known events took place. I, as a visitor, am interested to see what were the gifts it received and who presented them. As for me, it is an interesting way to celebrate an anniversary – by showing what was given to them as presents during the period of history when it was the Lenin Museum. Should there be presented the gifts received by presidents of Ukraine for the public access? Probably so, because as a rule in all countries all the gifts made to the officials – president, prime minister, head of the parliament, are stored in the museums of those institutions where those people worked because it is not that person’s private property. It would be nice if this exposition had a continuation.”

Interestingly, in celebrating its anniversary the Ukrainian Home paid special attention to Leonid Brezhnev. The organizers have separately presented the rare gifts of the CPSU Central Committee General Secretary along with the portraits of the Soviet leaders: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Leonid Brezhnev made in social realism style in its best. Perhaps, there is certain logic in it, but still. In general, Soviet notes were dominant in the atmosphere of the night. Obviously, Ukrainian Home still remains the Lenin Museum in many ways. That is why, even though many of the presented exhibits are really interesting to the visitor, the exhibition still lacks distinct historical highlights and while the situation remains the same, the portraits of communist leaders presented alongside with Ukrainian icons, valuables, and artifacts from the Soviet past are gathered together in a rattling mix, which, if not in form, then surely in its essence brings the visitors back to the Soviet reality stuffed with myths.