On November 18, a round table discussion titled “Innovation and Preservation: Modern Approaches to the Development of Museum Affairs” took place at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. It was organized jointly with the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Poltava Regional Military Administration. The event was moderated by Roman Kabachiy, Head of a sector at the War Museum.
Our colleagues from the Poltava region presented their experience in preserving cultural heritage during the full-scale war and spoke about innovative approaches to popularizing museums in the region.
Liliia Fedorchenko, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Poltava RMA (Regional Military Administration), spoke about initiatives that unite museum workers in the region in developing the industry. Specifically, within the framework of the “Treasures of Poltava Region” project, measures have been initiated to preserve 32 buildings erected at the beginning of the 20th century under the order of the Lokhvytsia Zemstvo for rural Zemstvo schools. All of them were designed by the architect Opanas Slastion in the Ukrainian Art Nouveau style. Liliia also mentioned the successful cooperation with the private museum “Ethnographic Collection ‘Drevo’,” created in the village of Kozubivka by local enthusiast Eduard Krutko. For instance, this cooperation resulted in the 3D digitization of a collection of 40 сorsets and skirts from the Khorol region.
Maryna Kondratenko, Head of the Exhibition Department at the Vasyl Krychevsky Poltava Local Lore Museum, informed the round table participants about the digitization of the best artifacts from their collection. A separate department was created for this purpose, and a 2D and 3D digitization laboratory was equipped at the expense of the Regional Military Administration. The result of this work is the placement of high-quality images of museum objects on the museum’s web resources, the Museum Collection of Ukraine, and international platforms.
Mykhailo Ponomarenko, research fellow and archaeologist from the Historical and Cultural Reserve “Bilsk,” introduced the institution’s cooperation with foreign partners interested in preserving Ukraine’s archaeological heritage under wartime conditions.
Olha Kulbaka, Deputy Director of the National Museum of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishne, spoke about new local museum centers, specifically mentioning the integration of the homesteads of renowned potters of the past into the museum space.
Nadiia Kupenko, Director of the Kremenchuk City Art Gallery, shared new formats of museum communication, including secrets on how a cultural institution can engage young people.
Yurii Horpynych, Deputy Director General for Institutional Development of the War Museum, and Maryna Bohush, Acting Head of the Exhibition Department, delivered a report on the topic “Museum Exposition as a Cross-Disciplinary Project”. This presentation was based on the idea and implementation of the exhibition “Memory. Interchange,” created at the War Museum in 2025 with the support of the German Embassy in Ukraine and in cooperation with the Museum “Berlin – Karlshorst”.
The meeting participants agreed that in the conditions of a full-scale war, the issue of heritage preservation is urgent, especially for regions like Poltava, which are geographically close to the borders with the aggressor country. Therefore, innovative methods must be at the core of experience exchange between museum institutions.
