n August 6, 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a defensive operation in the Kursk region of russia. Within 10 days of the start of the operation, Director General Yurii Savchuk and photographer Roman Pupenko set off on a museum expedition to the Ukrainian-russian border to document the events on this part of the frontline.
It is how the idea for the project, which the Museum presents a month after the beginning of the operation, came about. The exhibition tells about the current course of the russian-Ukrainian war, particularly outside Ukraine, and recreates a historical portrait of the Sloboda Ukraine region based on artifacts from the 18th–20th centuries.
The exhibition showcases the history of Ukrainian colonization of the Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh territories since the second half of the 17th century when the Ukrainian settlements emerged in wild fields and on Tatar trails, with Cossacks being the driving force behind it.
For over two and a half centuries, the Ukrainian population has maintained its national distinctiveness and identity, particularly evident during the national revival in the early 20th century. The exhibition’s cartographic, material, written, and photographic sources from archival and museum collections confirm the deep historical connections of these territories with other parts of the Sloboda Ukraine region.
Rare archival materials, made public for the first time, vividly depict the little-known circumstances surrounding the demarcation of the Ukrainian-russian border from 1922 to 1928. The documents reveal that the will of the local communities was disregarded, leading to Ukrainians being integrated into the russian soviet republic, “beyond the borders of their native land.”
A separate part of this project is called “Edge.” It is a selection of 26 out of 6,665 photographs by museum photographer Roman Pupenko from a museum expedition to the controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine territories of the Kursk region, which lasted from August 15 to 19, 2024.
Curator: Yurii Savchuk
Photo and video: Roman Pupenko
Artist: Anton Logov
Management: Yurii Horpynych
Design and architecture: Anna Voitovych
Graphic design: Lyudmyla Nikorych
Collection management: Oksana Yankovenko, Iryna Yermolaeva, Inna Nepotenko, Victoria Bulychova, Nataliia Davydenko
Restoration: Iryna Rudenko, Yuliia Penzina, Tetiana Yavorska
Research: Larysa Levchenko, Yaroslav Fayzulin, Nataliia Makovska, Valerii Tomozov, Oleh Odnorozhenko, Nataliia Rebrova, Olha Soshnikova, Iryna Kotsabiuk, Svitlana Datsenko, Oleksandr Bilous, Hanna Tarasenko, Svitlana Demchenko
Translation: Dmytro Hainetdinov, Oleksandra Pidsukha
Text editing: Yurii Bedryk
Public communication: Lyudmyla Melnyk, Anastasiia Yevhlevska, Ivanna Hetmantseva
Video editing: Andrii Zahrebelnyi, Serhii Bilohub, Anna Zurova, Ilya Piddubnyi
Installation management and technical coordination: Oleh Kucheriavyi, Oleksii Ishchenko, Yan Denenfeld, Oleksandr Seletskyi, Kostiantyn Perebyinis, Stepan Karas, Mykhailo Nahornyi, Valerii Borovyk, Dmytro Popovych, Petro Kyrychenko, Victoria Radzievska, Alisa Prylutska, Mariia Holoskok, Oleksandr Slyvchak, Roman Doilnitsyn, Kostyantyn Lebid, Iryna Dvorska, Natalia Levadniuk, Svitlana Tetiura