Tag Archives: Ukraine
HERITΛGE in the News
Our teams are working around the world to fulfill the HERITΛGE mission. Here is how some of our work has been featured in the press in the last few months.
Heritage Threatened by Conflict
HERITΛGE has launched a new project to safeguard Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Architectural Heritage Preservation in Times of War: The Ukrainian Model is being realized in cooperation with the Kharkiv School of Architecture and Skeiron, with generous support from the U.S. Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Section in Ukraine. The project has been featured in the latest issue of Popular Archaeology as well as in Ukrainian media.
HerMaP Gambia
The Gambia’s National Assembly’s Committee for Culture and Tourism recently embarked on a Parliamentary Study Tour in Thessaloniki. This visit, conducted as part of the HerMaP Gambia program co-funded by the European Union, was widely covered in the Gambian media, including prominent news programs and The Voice newspaper.
Watch the QTV bulletin (start at 14:18) or read the article in The Voice.
HERITΛGE also delivered workshops in The Gambia on various aspects of cultural management, including Festival Management, which was covered by The Voice.
African Heritage Grants
HERITΛGE’s small grants for African heritage initiative, supported by the Mellon Foundation, recently funded Restoring Ilukwe House, a project by the NGO Legacy to restore a historic building in Lagos’ railway compound. Coverage of this initiative appeared in Nigeria’s The Guardian.
The Republic, a Nigeria-based magazine and platform of socio-economic and political commentary, criticism and cultural discourse, has received a substantial grant from the Mellon Foundation to support its mission to establish itself as a regional, leading hub/platform for Black and Africa-focused ideas and critical perspectives; and to further connect Africa and the African diaspora on critical issues, with the help of HERITΛGE.
Greek Living Heritage Network
As a founding member of the Living Heritage Network in Greece, HERITΛGE continues to support and celebrate Greece’s living heritage. Theodosia Maroutsi recently discussed the Network on NaMaste, a cultural program on Greece’s national broadcaster ERA2.
Greek speakers can listen to the show here.
HERITΛGE working to protect Ukraine’s architectural heritage
The Heritage Management Organisation (HERITΛGE) is pleased to announce the launch of a new project contributing to the protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Architectural Heritage Preservation in Times of War: The Ukrainian Model is a two-year project that will train architecture students in 3D documentation, architectural documentation, heritage analysis, conservation assessment, international conservation standards, and local regulations.
Implemented by the Heritage Management Organisation, the Kharkiv School of Architecture (evacuated to Lviv), and Skeiron, the project is generously supported by the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine*.
The teaching will combine theoretical and practical components, including on-the-job training that will result in datasets usable in conservation. In the first year, 20 students from the Kharkiv School of Architecture will be trained as well as 10 students from Kherson, Odessa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Lviv, and Chernivtsi.
The initiative will also provide training to two cohorts of academics from architectural schools across Ukraine, supporting them in establishing architectural conservation curricula in their institutions.
“Heritage studies is a relatively new field for Ukrainian universities. The current war has highlighted a lack of modern restoration and documentation experts. Through participation in this project, our university aims to address the needs of future architects and the broader Ukrainian society by training specialists who can preserve, document, and integrate heritage into sustainable urban and community development. We are excited to collaborate with Skeiron, Ukrainian experts in digital documentation, and the HERITAGE team, whose international expertise is vital to the success of this initiative,” said Dr Iryna Matsevko, Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture.
Project Launch
The project opened with a discussion on ‘Planning for the Post-War Rehabilitation of Ukraine’s Architectural Heritage’. Hosted by the Kharkiv School of Architecture and moderated by Dr Maja Kominko, Director of Projects at HERITΛGE, the panel brought together Ukrainian and international experts. Liliya Onyshchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Lviv on the protection of the historical environment and former Head of the Department of Historic Environment Protection of Lviv City Council, and Ihor Poshyvaylo, co-founder of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative (HERI) and a member of the National Council for the Recovery of Ukraine from the War, spoke about their experience in heritage protection during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Yuriy Prepodobnyi, co-founder of Skeiron and the #SaveUkrainianHeritage initiative discussed the urgency of documentation. Dr. Iryna Matsevko, the Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture and a historian, outlined the challenges of forming a new generation of architects who can meet the challenges of post-war rehabilitation of the heritage of Ukraine. Saleem Al-Mennan, a conservation architect, complemented the discussion by speaking about his extensive experience with post-war rehabilitation projects in Iraq, including projects supported by the American Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation.
*Views expressed do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.
HERITΛGE trains Ukrainian Museum professionals
The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) is happy to announce the successful completion of the first part of “Digital Museum: Storytelling, networks, and funding for Ukrainian museums”, a training course for Ukrainian museum professionals. The course is part of “Culture Helps / Культура допомагає” – a cooperation between Insha Osvita and zusa, co-funded by the European Union.
Digital Museum offers free training to 32 museum professionals from 14 regions of Ukraine. HERITΛGE for the first part of its training modules has provided training on fundraising and digital storytelling, while experts from Ukrainian partner institutions (the Charitable Foundation Shevchenko Hai, the Klymentiy Sheptytskyi Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, the NGO New Museum, the Museum Crisis Center, and the Territory of Terror Memorial Museum of Totalitarian Regimes) have trained participants on collection digitization, digital revitalization of exhibitions in small museums, online museum portals, and oral history and documentation.
“The Digital Museum initiative is one that HERITΛGE is very proud to be part of. The war in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and displacement of many Ukrainian museums, especially in the east of the country. These museums, whose collections are lost or evacuated and stored for safety, struggle to survive. Their role of bringing people together around their shared history is essential now, when many Ukrainians are displaced and need support to maintain the connection with their identity and culture,” said Maja Kominko, Director of HERITΛGE’s International Projects.
The Digital Museum training program is the result of cooperation between HERITΛGE, New Museum ( an NGO that manages the Museum Crisis Center and is a partner of Lviv’s Territory of Terror Memorial Museum), and the Shevchenkivskyi Hai Charitable Foundation (at the Klymentii Sheptytskyi Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life in Lviv). It is designed to develop the capacity of Ukrainian museums in digital storytelling and virtual exhibition projects in order to increase the online presence of Ukrainian culture. Participating professionals will develop their fundraising, partnership-building, and networking skills to enable museums to expand their activities and attract more resources to preserve and promote Ukrainian culture.
About Culture Helps: Culture Helps is co-funded by the European Union under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced citizens and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors. The project is a cooperation between Insha Osvita (UA) and zusa (DE).
