Looted but not conquered: how the largest museums of Kherson region live and work today

Smashed exhibitions, stolen collections, empty frames and blank walls that once displayed valuable and unique artifacts. This is the state in which the largest cultural and historical centers of the region, the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore and the Shovkunenko Art Museum, found themselves as a result of the enemy's actions. Despite everything, they remained unconquered, because they have those who continue to work for their revival and development. Here is an article by Intent about how the beginning of the war and the occupation affected museum workers, how they rescue and replenish the surviving collections, about exhibitions away from home, virtual tours, and more.

They thought not about themselves, but about the museum

On the morning of February 24, 2022, when the whole country was shaken by explosions and news of a full-scale invasion, instead of saving themselves, Kherson museum workers were already consulting on how to save their priceless treasures. After all, this is our history, our cultural heritage, and our self-identity. Given their historical experience, they realized that the enemy would definitely want to take it away to try to destroy our nation not only physically but also at the level of national memory. Alina Dotsenko, director of the Shovkunenko Art Museum, recalls:

"That morning I woke up very early, realized that something terrible had happened and now we needed to save what we had collected, created for many years, with hard work. We had, without exaggeration, one of the best collections in the country, with more than 14 thousand works of art. So I immediately contacted my team and told them how to proceed. The city was holding its breath, there was no transportation, but I and the people I was sure of got there. Together, we managed to evacuate the main documentation, computers, seals, the charter, the personnel archive, but the funds... You know, there was a lot of stuff. That's why I made up a legend that I took everything out in 2021 before the start of the Great Restoration. This allowed us to keep a quiet defense for 5 months, until some colleagues betrayed us... They told the occupiers that everything was in place, and on August 19, 2022, armed Russian soldiers in masks seized the museum."

It was difficult to hide so many works of art somewhere, and there was almost no time. Within a few days, the enemy was in the city. The situation at the Museum of Local Lore was somewhat different. The views of the previous management of the institution on everything that was happening in the city were not patriotic at all, so those who had a pro-Ukrainian position were banned from entering the museum, and attempts to save anything were immediately stopped.

"We were told to stay at home until the security situation became clear. I didn't want to believe in a real war, so I decided to go to work and take the amount of work I had started to do a few days before on a flash drive to finish it at home. But I couldn't get into the museum anymore. They told me that I was strictly forbidden to enter... So I could only learn something about the museum from the stories of others. Fortunately, there were many really reliable, incredible people among the staff who still took care of our institution every day," says Olha Honcharova, acting director of the KhOCM.

Months of occupation followed, a series of threats, invitations to the commander's office, where they were supposed to "teach us to respect the new government," and a robbery that is now being called perhaps the largest since World War II. In the fall of 2022, the invaders stole more than 23,000 exhibits from the halls of the Museum of Local Lore and almost 11,000 works of art from the collection of the Art Museum.

The Local History Museum after the robbery. Photo provided by the interviewee

It's hard, but we're working

Despite the devastation of the collections and a number of other challenges of the war, museum staff continue to do everything possible to keep the largest cultural centers of the region alive and continue to fulfill their main mission. In particular, Olha Honcharova, the acting director of the Local History Museum, said:

"After the de-occupation of the city, we started working on preserving what was left. Fortunately, the occupiers managed to take out only a small part of the exhibits. I admire those people who did this with me when there was no electricity or heating, because they wanted to save priceless artifacts. We weren't so lucky with the documentation, it was stolen, so we have a lot of work to do, because it was created over decades. However, during this time, we managed to revive almost all forms of museum work and start new ones. Now we conduct virtual tours of natural history and ethnography for schoolchildren using the exhibits we have and interactive elements. We have also created and dedicated one of the exhibitions to our unbreakable city and continue to publish the Scientific Notes collections."

Photo from the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore Facebook page

To get on the virtual tour, you need to write to the museum's page on social media or send an e-mail. The museum staff will form a group of people and schedule an online tour of the museum. Also, the museum's website and social media pages occasionally publish stories of stolen exhibits.

The staff of the Art Museum also continues to work fruitfully. Thanks to the fact that Alina Dotsenko and her staff managed to preserve the entire digital archive of the collections, it is now possible to actively identify the stolen items and organize exhibitions where the artists' works can be seen again, but in digital format. One such exhibition, "Oleksiy Shovkunenko. Kherson - Kyiv" was exhibited this year at the National Museum "Kyiv Art Gallery".

Photo from the Facebook page of the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after O.O. Shovkunenko

"It's hard, but we are working. I was so sad and nostalgic at this exhibition. Out of 156 works by O. Shovkunenko, we have less than ten left... And that's because they were in another city for restoration. It's nice that there were a lot of visitors and connoisseurs. The exhibition was a success," says Alina Dotsenko, director of the Art Museum. After this event, the museum's collection of works by the artist O.O. Shovkunenko was replenished with another work, which was presented by Taras Logoyda from Kyiv.

It's more than gifts

Thanks to such gifts, museums manage to gradually replenish their funds. Thus, over the years, the art museum has received more than 250 works of art. Another gift was a large photograph by the French artist Emeric Luisse, which last year was the center of attention at the museum's exhibition in Kyiv dedicated to the second anniversary of the liberation of Kherson. This is a photographic reconstruction of the nineteenth-century painting "The Response of the Zaporizhzhia Cossacks" by I. Repin. But instead of Cossacks, the artist photographed Ukrainian defenders.

"These are not just gifts. This is our history, culture, and as Luisse himself said: "Culture is a weapon on a vast battlefield". That is why we are grateful to everyone who protects it and helps us to regain ours and create new beautiful collections," Alina emphasized.

Photo from the Facebook page of the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after O.O. Shovkunenko

According to the museum workers, artworks and various artifacts are donated not only by the creators and collectors themselves, but also by defenders, ordinary people and even nature. After the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was blown up, amphora from the lower reaches of the Dnipro River was brought to the shores of Odesa by water from Kyivan Rus. At that moment, one of the residents of Kherson was nearby and handed over the find to the museum.

"This is a real miracle. This amphora is a witness of the ancient times of Ukrainian history, so it is a very valuable exhibit, which we have already found a worthy place in our collection," notes Olha Honcharova.

Photo from the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore Facebook page

Returning the stolen and welcoming visitors again

Today, the buildings of both museums need to be partially restored, repaired, and restored. The problem is particularly acute with the building of the Art Museum, where work had begun before the war as part of the state program "Great Restoration."

"Now, in addition to returning the stolen property, our dream is to restore the museum building with professional restoration. Therefore, there is still a lot of work to be done. We will implement it," emphasizes Alina Dotsenko, director of the Art Museum.

In order to start work immediately, museums are developing plans, new concepts and dreaming of creating new powerful exhibitions. Olha Honcharova, acting director of the Local History Museum, notes:

"Our big common dream is to restore everything and welcome visitors again. That is why we are already developing a new concept for the museum for the future, so that we can understand what we need for this and what resources we will need to create new exhibition spaces. We are even working on creating an electronic ticket that will allow visitors to enter the museum in peacetime. And the amount of the ticket will be considered a charitable contribution to the restoration and development of the institution. We have dreams, plans, experiences, and we hope that there will be those who will support us - our fellow Kherson residents and everyone who cares. Together we can definitely save our cultural heritage."

Анна Шаповал