Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore, Sumy Region

Okhtyrka City Museum is located in the center of the city that is only 40 kilometers away from russian border and of the city that during the first days of the war had been severely affected by russian bombs and rockets, and is no longer available for use. In a state of disrepair. With windows boarded up with plywood, a ruined roof and cracked walls. 

 Later, the city authorities and the museum team will decide whether it is possible to restore the late 19th century building. Now the museum's collections have been moved to another building, the museum has all the necessary packing materials, evacuation boxes, and "priority exhibits" are prepared for evacuation. The museum building has been preserved with grant funds so that it can survive this winter. 
The Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore became the pilot episode of a new project of the Wounded Culture project of the Cultural Heritage Foundation of Ukraine, which has two components: 
documentation of the experience of museum workers and museums themselves as cultural objects through video interviews with the main actors using the oral history method
digitalization of cultural heritage using VR technology. 


The result of the expedition to the museum, conducted by interviewer Liana Blekharska and cameraman Natali Hasanshin, can be viewed in the video
 as well as read the materials within the Wounded Culture project 

A lot of information we have received with the personal initiative of Museum director - Liudmyla Mushchenko, so we’d like to add some of her personal thoughts: 


"On the night of March 7-8, 2022, our museum was destroyed as a result of an air strike by the Russian army. From March 9 to April 23, the museum staff (some left the city, some did not come to work), devoted to the faithful service of their profession, together with relatives and volunteers, cleared the debris. They also rescued and moved exhibits stored in the museum's basement. Enemy air raids and constant shelling did not frighten us and did not prevent us from saving the museum's collection. 

On February 25, an air strike destroyed the city's thermal power plant. Staying in cold houses, we all got seriously ill. There were no medicines in the pharmacies because they were massively bought by the people of Okhtyrka. It was also difficult to get food because we were surrounded, and only the road to Poltava region gave us a chance to survive. From there, we received food and medicine. We were working for 2/3 of our salary, and prices had risen several times. But we did not leave the city because we felt a great responsibility for saving the museum collection and did not betray our profession. We survived! And now we are doing everything we can to preserve the museum's heritage for posterity.


The staff of the municipal institution "Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore" sincerely and heartily thanks the Museum Crisis Center for its financial support and assistance. 

Thank you for your attention to us! Thank you, because only your support has given us the strength to live!"


Photo: Valentyna Klymenko 

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