Rescuing the Galagan Art Museum Collection
Priceless artworks by Ukrainian and internationalluminaries of painting and sculpture from at least the last five centuries have been rescued from destruction. Thanks to technical and financial assistance from the EU, a dedicated team of museum workers preserved them for future generations.
Russian war will not stop Ukrainian culture
About the project
At the beginning of their full-scale invasion Russian troops damaged a large part of the ancient Chernihiv with artillery and missile strikes, including historic buildings and individual culture and art facilities. The Chernihiv Regional Art Museum, named after a patron and representative of the Galagan Cossack family, which houses priceless art works of Ukrainian and foreign luminaries of painting and sculpture from at least the last five centuries, did not escape the flames of war.
Thanks to the technical and financial assistance from the EU, the museum workers managed to equip a new museum space in the basement repository, which made it possible to host planned museum events even with air raid alerts, which, unfortunately, are still very often triggered in the city. In the event of a power outage, the museum has installed powerful sources of autonomous uninterruptible power supply, and power is supplied by its own 5 kW solar power system. Moreover, the grant made it possible to carry out high-quality conservation of the premises damaged by barbaric bombings and protect them from the destructive effects of adverse weather conditions. Museum employees plan to further develop energy independence and environmental friendliness of their institution, turning it into a role model of how museums can be managed for other similar facilities in Ukraine.
Project timeline: 2022
Project supported by
House of Europe is an EU-funded programme fostering professional and creative exchange between Ukrainians and their colleagues in EU countries and the UK. The programme focuses on different professional fields: culture and creative industries, education and youth work, social entrepreneurship, and media. This encompasses 20+ separate programme lines enabling to keep working despite the war, to carry out personal projects, or to enrol in courses, conferences, and internships in the EU and the UK. The programme funds cultural cooperation and literature translation between Ukraine and the EU and the UK, along with the revitalisation of cultural infrastructure. House of Europe supports the safeguarding of Ukrainian cultural heritage and the development of creative and educational start-ups. Various learning and matchmaking opportunities such as Digital Labs, workshops, discussions, conferences, and hackathons are offered.
Project implemented by
Hryhorii Galagan Chernihiv Regional Art Museum is located within the premises of the 19th century landmark in Chernihiv’s downtown area. The museum collection includes more than 9,000 works of fine and decorative applied art from the 16th century to the present day, including the iconographic heritage of the Ukrainian Baroque era, folk paintings ‘Cossack Mamai’, paintings by Dutch, Flemish, French, and Italian artists. Icon paintings, mostly Ukrainian with the canonical ‘Michael the Archangel’, a collection of icons of the Virgin Mary, and original folk icons are uppermost in the museum collection. The largest part of the museum collection consists of the works of 20th century Ukrainian luminaries – M. Zhuk, M. Samokysh, S. Shyshko, M. Hlushchenko, M. Deregus, T. Yablonska, A. Kotska, and many others. A significant part of the collection consists of works of decorative and applied art of Ukraine created during almost two centuries. Applique, embroidery and painting, glass and porcelain, ceramics and wood items are represented by the famous names of the Sayenko family, M. Tymchenko, M. Prymachenko, I. Appolonov, H. Denysenko, A. Shtepa and many other well-known masters. The collection of folk toys, which includes more than 350 exhibits made of wood, clay, straw and dough, is unique.
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