Cultural Guardians

27/03/2026

Study visit in Kyiv institutions with Polish museum professionals as part of the OBMIN Network Conference "Resilient Culture. Cultural Resilience".

27/02/2026

🩵 Thank you to everyone who joined our online workshop dedicated to accessibility and inclusive museum practices. Over 100 participants from museums and cultural institutions took part in the session.

The workshop was led by Andreas Krüger, Accessibility and Inclusion Officer at the Berlinische Galerie. Andreas shared practical tools and long-term strategies the museum uses to make its exhibitions more accessible, including tactile models, tactile floor navigation systems, audio guides combining visual and descriptive texts, and guided tours in German Sign Language and Easy Language.

The meeting continued the exchange that began during our Cultural Guardians study visit last fall, when Ukrainian museum professionals first learned about the Berlinische Galerie’s approach to inclusion, and was organized thanks to Agentur für Internationale Museumskooperation.

💙 We are especially grateful to Lesia Khermrayeva, Head of the Barrier-Free Policy Department at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, for greeting and welcoming the participants.

It was great to see so many people interested in making museums more accessible!

--
Auswärtiges Amt, Міністерство культури України, Network of European Museum Organisations, Fundacja Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej, Bundesregierung.

26/02/2026

On 27 February at 11:00, we invite you to join a workshop online with the Berlinische Galerie, dedicated to accessibility and inclusive museum practices.

🔹This workshop is a direct result of our study visit within the Cultural Guardians program that took place last fall. During that visit, organised by Agency for International Museum Cooperation, Ukrainian museum professionals had the opportunity to learn about the Berlinische Galerie’s long-term approach to inclusion.

Since 2013, the Berlinische Galerie has been working towards becoming a more inclusive institution. A key milestone has been the adaptation of its permanent exhibition to the needs of visitors with disabilities: tactile models, a tactile floor guidance system, and an audio guide combining visual and descriptive texts allow blind, visually impaired, and sighted visitors to explore the museum independently. The program also includes guided tours in German Sign Language and in Easy Language.

🔹The workshop will be led by Andreas Krüger, Accessibility and Inclusion Officer at the Berlinische Galerie since 2019. Andreas oversees the museum’s accessibility education program and advises cultural institutions in Germany and internationally.

🖲️ Sign up here: https://forms.gle/pFtjMu28NKnrdSaJA

*The workshop will be translated simultaneously into Ukrainian and German.

Auswärtiges Amt, Міністерство культури України, Network of European Museum Organisations, Fundacja Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej, Agentur für Internationale Museumskooperation, Bundesregierung

24/02/2026

Today we mark another year since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Since February 2022, more than a thousand cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed. Museums have been looted, collections displaced, and historic buildings hit. Yet across the country, museum professionals continue their work, documenting the war, protecting heritage, educating young people, and creating spaces for reflection even under air raid alarms and power cuts.

This war is also a war against identity. That is why culture plays such a crucial role. Ukrainian museums are not only preserving the past, they are strengthening society in the present and helping to shape the future.

In this spirit, we continue our work through international cooperation and dialogue. On March 25, museum professionals from across Ukraine and partner countries will meet in Kyiv at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (Національний музей історії України у Другій світовій війні. Офіційна стор.) for the OBMIN Network Conference "Resilient Culture. Cultural Resilience".

📮 More information and registration here: https://obmin.eu/conferences.php?id=6

At the same time, we will host a group of Polish museums (24-27.03), part of a study tour organized with the Polish Embassy and the Polish Institute in Kyiv.

Photo: Road sign at the exhibition "...beyond the borders of our native land", War Museum, Kyiv.

Today we mark another year since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Since February 2022, more than a thousand cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed. Museums have been looted, collections displaced, and historic buildings hit. Yet across the country, museum professionals continue their work, documenting the war, protecting heritage, educating young people, and creating spaces for reflection even under air raid alarms and power cuts.

This war is also a war against identity. That is why culture plays such a crucial role. Ukrainian museums are not only preserving the past, they are strengthening society in the present and helping to shape the future.

In this spirit, we continue our work through international cooperation and dialogue. On March 25, museum professionals from across Ukraine and partner countries will meet in Kyiv at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (Національний музей історії України у Другій світовій війні. Офіційна стор.) for the OBMIN Network Conference Resilient Culture. Cultural Resilience

📮 More information and registration here: https://obmin.eu/conferences.php?id=6

At the same time, we will host a group of Polish museums (24-27.03), part of a study tour organized with the Polish Embassy and the Polish Institute in Kyiv.

Photo: Road sign at the exhibition "...beyond the borders of our native land", War Museum, Kyiv.

Auswärtiges Amt, Посольство Республіки Польща у Києві / Ambasada RP w Kijowie, Польський Інститут у Києві / Instytut Polski w Kijowie, Міністерство культури України,
Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego, Bundesregierung, EVZ Foundation, Allianz Ukrainischer Organisationen, Ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen,
Network of European Museum Organisations, Instytut Polonika.

17/02/2026

At the Metropolitan Palace of Saint Sophia of Kyiv, the National Scientific Research Restoration Center of Ukraine has opened the exhibition “In the Light of Caravaggio. Rescue. Research. Restoration.”

The main work, “The Taking of Christ ” (“The Kiss of Judas”), was stolen in 2008 from the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, later recovered in Berlin, and restored after years of legal and conservation work.

The artwork has a complex history: it was removed during World War II, returned in 1945, and has been subject to loss and recovery in recent years. The restoration was carried out by the National Scientific Research Restoration Center of Ukraine with the support of UNESCO in Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture.

The exhibition is open until 12 April 2026.

06/02/2026

An article written by Małgorzata Ławrowska–von Thadden on the situation of museums in Ukraine in a broader European context, with particular attention to Polish and Ukrainian historical experience.

The article presents museums as key actors in shaping Ukraine’s future and highlights how OBMIN’s network of over 160 museums across Ukraine operates. It was published in "Ukraina Moderna", a journal issued by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, in cooperation with the Institute of Historical Research at Lviv National University, and published by the University of Toronto Press.

Read the full article here (the article is in Ukrainian, but there is a pdf document available to download in English):
🔸 https://obmin.eu/press.php?id=47

Міністерство культури України
Lund University

Network of European Museum Organisations,
Auswärtiges Amt, Верховна Рада України,
Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego,
Національний музей у Львові імені Андрея Шептицького,
Національний музей історії України у Другій світовій війні. Офіційна стор.,
Художній музей Галагана / Galagan Art Museum - Chernihiv, Ukraine,
Національний художній музей України / National Art Museum of Ukraine.

31/12/2025

✨As we step into the new year, we’d like to share some of our plans for 2026!

One of the most important moments will be the next edition of our major conference, which we are planning to hold in Kyiv. Meeting in Ukraine matters to us, especially knowing that not everyone can travel abroad. We want to create an opportunity for more Ukrainian professionals to meet in person, exchange ideas, and strengthen connections. More details coming soon!

✨Alongside, we’re also planning:

- an online workshop in February focused on accessibility in culture,
- further meetings and exchanges in Warsaw and Berlin as part of the Culture Guardians program,
- the second edition of the Ukraine Culture Security Forum in Warsaw,
- Ukrainian ethnographic museum exhibition in Berlin,
- study visits in the autumn,
- launch of a new, more accessible website to promote better Ukrainian art and cultural institutions.

✨Thank you for being with us. We’re excited about the year ahead and look forward to meeting many of you!

- Our furry Obmin Team: Lotka, Bulgur, Gucio, Pawka, and Besia 🩷

23/12/2025

❄️ This Holiday season can feel different for many of us.

We wish you all strength, kindness, and warmth. Let there be peace. 🩵 Thank you for being part of our community.

- OBMIN Team

22/12/2025

Today we take a look at a newly opened exhibition in the Chernihiv Literary Memorial Museum-Reserve of Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky.

❄️ Winter landscapes in quiet Chernihiv.

More info below.

11/12/2025

👀 What is happening in the museums of Cultural Guardians network?

This week we share a very interesting fact from the Баштанський краєзнавчий музей (Bashtan Museum of Local Lore).

"The headscarf is one of the oldest and most prominent symbols of Ukrainian culture, combining traditions, intimate life events, and art. It has accompanied women for centuries.
Initially, it was mainly used as protection against cold and the evil eye, and later as a sign of female honor and family status.

As part of folk costume, the headscarf was used instead of a noun as a mandatory headdress for married women. It was also worn by unmarried girls in winter, under the scorching sun, and in some regions it was tied as a headband.
The scarf was worn throughout Ukraine. In summer - linen or purchased sitcev, in winter - factory wool.

The scarf was a marker of a woman's social status. Young people wore white or light-colored scarves, older women wore dark ones. Unmarried girls often went out wearing a wreath.
Scarves were a sign of a family's wealth. Rich women usually bought expensive silk and wool scarves.

Illustration: photo from the collection of the Bashtan Museum of Local History from the family of Olena Alexandrivna Skidan, showing how scarves were tied by visitors to the village. Poltava at the beginning of the 20th century.

Хустка — один із найдавніших та найвиразніших символів української культури, який поєднує традиції, інтимні життєві події та мистецтво.
Вона крокує поруч із людиною крізь століття.
Спершу це був переважно оберіг від холоду та злого ока, а згодом — ознака жіночої честі та родинного стану.
Будучи елементом народного вбрання, хустка використовувалась замість намітки як обов'язковий головний убір одруженої жінки. Вбиралися в неї також неодружені дівчата взимку, під палючим сонцем та в деяких регіонах пов'язували її як начільну пов'язку.
Хустку носили на всій території України. Влітку — полотняну або куповану ситцеву (вибійчану, мережану, вишиту), взимку — домоткану або фабричну вовняну.
Хустка була маркером соціального стану жінки. Молодиці носили білі або яскраві хустки, старші жінки — темні. Неодружені дівчата часто вив'язувались вінкоподібно.
Хустки свідчили про рівень достатку родини. Заможні жінки зазвичай купували дорогі шовкові та вовняні хустки.
Ілюстрація: фото з фондів Баштанського краєзнавчого музею з родини Олени Олександрівни Скидан, на якому ми можемо бачити способи пов’язування хустки, які побутували в с. Полтавка на початку ХХ ст.

05/12/2025

👀 What's happening in the museums of the Cultural Guardians network?

This week we share news from Музей історії Полтавської битви Poltava battle history museum.

On Wednesday, the Poltava Battle History Museum welcomed representatives of the Embassy of Sweden in Kyiv.
During the visit, museum researcher Svitodar Palii guided the delegation through the exhibition, presenting key artefacts and offering historical insights into the Hetmanate, the Great Northern War, and the 1709 Battle of Poltava.

Museum director Yevheniia Shcherbyna highlighted the institution’s current approach: challenging long-standing imperial and Soviet myths surrounding these events and promoting a more accurate, decolonised historical narrative.

👉 Read more about the museum here: https://battle-poltava.org.ua/en/