On 18 June, the Ukrainian translation of the guide Supporting Decolonisation in Museums: Focus on Ukraine was presented. The event took place at the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” with the support of the British Council in Ukraine.
The event was opened by Ivan Verbytskyi, First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine, and Tom Mishosha, Director of the British Council in Ukraine.
The publication was presented by representatives of the developing organizations: Anastasiia Cherednychenko, President of ICOM Ukraine, and Maria Blyzinski, Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of ICOM UK. They emphasized that the guide had been developed at the initiative of the Ukrainian Institute, in cooperation with ICOM UK, ICOM Ukraine, and the UK Museums Association (MA). The publication aims to provide practical tools for countering colonial narratives, distorted representation, and the mislabelling of Ukraine and its cultural heritage.
The presentation offered another opportunity to share the experience of decolonization practices developed by museum professionals in Ukraine. Yurii Savchuk, Director General of the War Museum, took part as a speaker in the international panel discussion “Decolonizing Ukrainian Heritage in Museums: Approaches and Challenges.” He spoke in detail about the Museum’s transformation from 2015, when the institution was renamed, to the present day. The key milestones included the opening of the exhibition “The Unfinished War…”, the launch of the process of redefinition in May 2022, the replacement of the symbols on the shield of the Motherland Monument, the dismantling of five-pointed stars and inscriptions on the Alley of Hero Cities, and the removal of the russian-language inscription in the sculptural gallery of the memorial complex. As the Museum’s head emphasized, these are only part of the decolonization processes that continue to this day.
Joining him in the discussion were Maksym Ostapenko, Director of the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”; Oksana Pidsukha, Director General of the National Museum “Kyiv Picture Gallery”; and Gordon Seabright, Chief Executive of the Horniman Museum and Gardens.
The participants discussed the need to decolonize museums as institutions of memory, the importance of international cooperation and exchange of experience, and shared their own case studies from recent years.
Such initiatives are an important step towards affirming the Ukrainian voice in the global museum community and strengthening Ukraine’s presence in the international discourse on the decolonization of cultural heritage.
