HELP SAVE UKRAINIAN MUSEUMS

At this time the main duty for the museum staff of Kherson Region Museum of Local Lore is to preserve the collections that had survived the looting of the occupants. The main task of Museum Crisis Center is to help the museum staff that continues to work under extremely difficult conditions. During the worktime and on the weekends the museum workers keep reccords, pack and transfer to the safe places not just some antique items, but also preserve historical memory. And we help them financially.

In March 2022 part of the Museum Crisis Center team had compiled 2 big boxes of humanitarian aid (groceries, household chemicals, medicine, hygiene products) with a total weight of 336 kilos for Zaporizhzhia Region Museum of Local Lore and Huliaypole District Museum of Local Lore, as well as individual parcels with a total weight of 364 kilograms for museum workers from other regions. A total of 700 kilograms of humanitarian aid for 37 museum workers.

The supported museums are: Luhansk Region: Lysychansk Museum of Local Lore Popasna District Museum of Local Lore Rubizhna Local Museum Kherson Region: Khersom Region Museum of Local Lore Kharkiv Region: Pechenizka Village Council Local Lore Museum named after T. Sulima Slobozhansky Museum of Local Lore of Kegychivka Village Council Liubotyn City Museum of Local Lore of the Liubotyn City Council Historical and Local Lore Museum of Zolochiv Village Council The Zmiiv Museum of Local Lore Sokoliv Museum of the Fighting Brotherhood Department of the Zmiiv Museum of Local Lore Balakliya Museum of Local Lore Valkyvka Museum of Local Lore Chernihiv region: Semenivka historical and local history museum Novhorod-Siverskyi Museum-Reserve "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

Museum Crisis Center couldn’t stay aside towards the problems of museum workers who found themselves in a difficult situation in the Kharkiv region - under constant shelling, local museum workers did their best to save the collections. Lots of them, not receiving any financial help, sometimes starving, risking their lives, had been disassembling the exhibitions and hiding the most valuable exhibits. Unfortunately, not everything happened to be saved as missile strikes destroyed the buildings of the National Literary and Memorial Museum of H.S. Skovoroda, the Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve "Verkhniy Saltiv", the Dvorichansky Museum of Local Lore, and damaged the buildings of 7 other museums. However, thanks to the dedicated work of Kharkiv museum workers, the losses of the museum collection are minimal. Now the museums of Kharkiv region are provided with various types of assistance, and the Museum Crisis Center provided help when it was needed most, providing humanitarian and financial assistance to museum staff. “Today I have received personal humanitarian aid. I would like to note that the set I have received surprises with its variety - it feels that it was collected by people who cared. In addition to food, it included hygiene products, medicines, a set of socks, a soft warm blanket, and a very necessary thing in our time - power banks. It is very nice that in such difficult times you do not remain indifferent to those who need help. You provide your fellow museum workers with not only help, but you give them hope that together we can overcome any adversity!" Nataliia Ivanova, Head of the Department of Scientific and Collection Work of the Kharkiv Historical Museum named after M. F. Sumtsov.

All the staff for Kherson Arts Museum received financial help from the MCC. Since the beginning of russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the occupants had stolen more than 10 000 of the most valuable exhibits of the museum, the building was also damaged several times by rocket and artillery fire, which damaged the fences, windows, and roof. Nevertheless, the institution is working, fighting for the return of its collection and punishment of those, who are guilty of stealing them.

In April 2023 russian missile rockets hit the downtown of Kupyansk City, located in the Kharkiv region. One of the rockets had targeted the Kupyansk Museum of Local Lore, whose workers had been receiving financial help from the Museum Crisis Center afterward. There were civilians in the Museum. The Department of Culture, Youth and Sports of the City Council was located there. The police and rescuers quickly arrived at the scene. They began to help the wounded and clear the rubble. One woman was pulled out, she did not survive. We know that there is another woman there." - Ihor Laptev, deputy head of the Kupiansk district police department, told Suspilne Kharkiv. According to the latest data, the victims were Iryna Osadcha, director of the Kupyansk Museum of Local Lore, and Olena Vodopianova, a museum employee who had just started working in her new position a week before.