Odesa Art Museum completes preliminary repairs of damage caused by Russia

Stabilization work has been completed on the building of the Odesa National Art Museum, which was severely damaged after a Russian missile hit on November 5, 2023.

This was reported by the museum's press service.

The repairs were carried out at the expense of the international ALIPH Foundation, co-financed by the European Union, and emergency emergency measures were taken in the main and administrative buildings of the museum, which are an architectural monument of national importance. The operator of the aid is the public organization Museum for Change.

The total area of damage was almost 1,400 square meters. The cost of this amount of work on the architectural monument exceeded 250 thousand euros, but the budget was optimized to 140 thousand euros. These funds were used to reinforce the ceiling and walls and replace windows in the administrative building, which suffered the most from the explosion and required serious stabilization work.

In the main building, the facade was repaired along with the columns of the entrance group. The damaged finishes were removed from the cornice and ceiling of the entrance area, while preserving the surviving decorative elements for future reconstruction. The ceiling above the main entrance is now covered with alkali-resistant reinforcing fiberglass mesh, and the ceilings in the affected exhibition halls on the first and second floors have been additionally reinforced.

According to the museum staff, an important part of the work was the installation of recuperation on the windows covered with OSB protection, which allows for air ventilation, which is necessary for the safe display of works of art at the current exhibitions.

Urgent emergency work in the ONHM buildings will minimize the impact of vibrations and blast waves and wait for the full restoration, which was scheduled for 2022 and postponed due to the full-scale invasion. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, ALIPH has been helping to protect the collections of Ukrainian museums. Together with Museum for Change, 49 projects have been implemented, with more than 120 Ukrainian cultural institutions receiving assistance.

Кирило Бойко