Saving heritage. Chernihiv region: land of old secrets

We talk to our experts about what actually happens. About the scale of destruction and war crimes, about the protection of buildings and the evacuation of museum exhibits, about modern technologies, digitalization, methods of restoration and experience of cooperation with foreign colleagues, about plans for reconstruction, assistance to artists, about the cultural potential and popularization of monuments. In particular, we focus on the ancient Ukrainian land — Chernihiv region.

When invaders from an aggressor country invade our lands, the first thing they do in the occupied territories is to distort road signs, changing Ukrainian names to Russian counterparts: the fight against the enemy goes not only across borders, cities and villages, but also for the right to have its own statehood, language, culture, for the right to be called Ukraine. That is why the occupiers cynically fire at memorials, destroy books and historical archives, destroy universities, cathedrals, monuments with rockets, steal and take away the most valuable works of art.

According to the Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, 100 monuments of cultural heritage were destroyed during the 370 days of the war. As of July 15, the Ministry of Culture recorded 423 cases of damage or destruction of objects. Today, according to the Heritage Rescue Headquarters, the Russian Federation has destroyed 22 monuments of national importance, about 130 immovable objects, one and a half hundred religious buildings of Christian, Muslim and Jewish denominations, including more than three dozen museums and four dozen libraries, out of fifty monuments executioners, about sixty theaters, cinemas and cultural centers. The total damage in this area is more than 6 billion euros.

Of course, the cultural heritage suffered the greatest losses in the border regions. Chernihiv region was among them. Namely, it has an extraordinary concentration of natural, historical, archeological, architectural and artistic monuments, not only of the all-Ukrainian, but also of the world level.

The land of Tychyna and Dovzhenka. Cultural and touristic potential

The history of Chernihiv Region spans many millennia. Chernihiv is one of the oldest cities in Ukraine and the largest European cities of the Middle Ages, which is more than 1300 years old. The temples of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries have been preserved here, which constitute the largest concentration of architectural monuments of this period in Central-Eastern Europe. But, in addition to the center itself, a record number of objects of cultural heritage, in particular of national importance, are concentrated in small towns and villages. This is the land where our language and culture were formed. Chernihiv region gave us Pavlo Tychyna and Ivan Kocherga, Hryhorii Veriovka and Lev Revutskyi. It was here, on the banks of the Desna, that Oleksandr Dovzhenko was born and spent his childhood, Maria Zankovetska began her acting career, Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, Marko Vovchok and Mykola Verbytskyi wrote here.

This region has a powerful cultural and touristic potential, because it is unique both in historical and recreational areas, believes Tatiana Korzhynska, head of the Chernihiv Regional Tourism Development Center. "Scattered here are such unique features that are practically not found anywhere else," says Tatyana, "in Chernihiv there is the largest underground church of Eastern Europe - Theodosius of Totemsky in the Anthony Caves, in the village of Mizyn - the most famous Paleolithic settlement of primitive people and the oldest and only finds of it in the world — percussion musical instruments made of mammoth tusk. In the Mezyrychyn Park in Kozelechchyna, the largest mountain swamp in Ukraine is located, a unique natural monument, the remains of the tundra of the Ice Age. And also - a large number of wooden temples, rare palace and park complexes in the city of Baturyn, the villages of Sokyryntsi and Vyshenka...".

Yuriy Tkach, the director of the Chernihiv regional art museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan, singled out Novgorod-Siverskyi and Nizhyn among the small towns of the region because of their interesting and rich architecture. Serhii Laevskyi, the director of the Vasyl Tarnovsky Chernihiv Historical Regional Museum, added Sedniv, Lyubech, Pryluky, Kachanivka and Sosnytsia to the extensive list. "The wooden lace of the houses, the exquisite carved decoration of the facades is unique in the Chernihiv region," he says Artem Hlushchenko, head of the Department of Town Planning and Architecture of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, — it is also worth noting that classicism was introduced in the architecture of Chernihiv Oblast earlier than in other regions of the country. By the way, Kachanivka was built in 1770, and the White House in the USA, with which it is often compared, was built in 1800."

"It was not for nothing that Mykhailo Hrushevskyi said that the secrets of the Old Ukraine and the seeds of the New Ukraine are buried in Chernihiv," says Serhiy Laevskyi, "all the listed cities are really attractive with their picturesque nature, archaeological sites, wooden and stone architecture, and remarkable princely and Cossack history." ". Laevsky mentions the estate of the Lyzogub family in Sednev, where the estate, tenement house, and wooden church have been preserved (by the way, the famous "Via" was filmed here). "Landscapes painted by Taras Shevchenko and Andrii Lyzogub have been attracting artists from different parts of the world for more than 70 years," says Serhiy, "these subjects are represented in many museum and private collections."

According to Laevsky, the Shestovytskyi archaeological complex, the largest Viking camp in Ukraine, consisting of a settlement of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, a burial mound, and a post, also has huge tourist and festival prospects. "For years, the festival of historical reconstruction "Korovel" was held here on the banks of the Desna, to which people from Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, and Norway gathered," says Serhiy, "we created exhibitions, there was lively communication, powerful scientific forums and, of course, battle reconstructions ". For many years, the complex was studied by archaeologists: scientific materials are stored in Kyiv museums and the Chernihiv Historical Museum named after Vasyl Tarnovsky. And just now, Scandinavian materials from the Chernihiv museum are being exhibited in Denmark.

Losses of war

In 1945, Chernihiv was recognized as one of the most crippled cities in Europe, almost 70% of it was destroyed. In 2022, the ancient city was again subjected to large-scale bombing, but already by Russian invaders. Currently, about a quarter of its area has been destroyed.

Already in the first days of the war, as a result of rocket fire in Chernihiv, the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, located in the building of 1904, was on fire. As a result, the archive of the Security Service, where the cases of repressed citizens of Chernihiv Oblast, as well as documents of the Soviet special services were kept, was destroyed. On February 27, Russian troops defaced the building of the Chernihiv Regional Youth Center (the former Shchors cinema). Built in 1939, it was destroyed during World War II, and rebuilt in 1947. It is symbolic that the trial of German and Hungarian prisoners of war took place within the walls of this building. In Chernihiv Oblast, a historic monument was destroyed - a gazebo on the slope of the Boldyn Mountains, which was erected in 1911 in honor of the visit of Nicholas II.

Many religious buildings were damaged. The ensemble of the Trinity-Illina Monastery and the Yeletsky Dormition Monastery were damaged, as well as the half-destroyed church of Saint Theodosius. The Resurrection, Catherine and St. Kazan churches and the memorial with the chapel of the Archangel Michael at the Yatsevo cemetery were damaged. Despite the bombardment, the temples of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries in Dytinka were not seriously damaged. The Ascension Church in Lukashivka suffered significant losses.

Several libraries have been lost. The central city library named after Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi and the library for children named after Oleksandr Dovzhenko, which are located in the same building, were partially destroyed. The building of the Noble Land Bank of the beginning of the 868th century, which belongs to the rare northern Ukrainian modern style, was damaged. The regional universal scientific library named after Korolenko is located here. This is the largest book collection in the region, with a total fund of XNUMX copies.

The enemy mercilessly destroys the museums of Chernihiv. The facade and part of the exposition of the Military History Museum, Mykhailo Kotsiubinsky museum-reserve were damaged. The regional art museum named after Grigoriy Galagan was damaged: the facade and a third of the windows of the building were damaged. The museum was established in 1983. Its collection includes more than 9000 works of art from the XNUMXth century to the present day. "Our museum focuses its activities on the demonstration of the artistic heritage of the region, this applies to both painting, graphics, icon painting heritage, as well as decorative and applied art and sculpture. And, of course, there is also the gathering of the Galagan family itself, says Yuriy Tkach, director of the Chernihiv Regional Art Museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan. "The normal activities of the museum are currently suspended, the work has moved to an online format, within which we prepare exhibitions and publications, and also continue to provide expert opinions on works of art."

The occupiers destroyed the building of the Vasyl Tarnovsky Museum of Ukrainian Antiquities, which currently houses the Chernihiv Regional Library for Youth. Valuable objects of the museum - paintings, archaeological finds, weapons, a collection of "Shevchenkians", artifacts of the Cossack era - were collected by the Tarnovsky family during the 1890th century. Fortunately, the valuable collection was not harmed, as the building recently functioned as a library, and all exhibits were stored in the Chernihiv Historical Regional Museum of Tarnovsky. "This building is the most painful loss among the monuments injured by scabies," says Serhii Laevskyi, director of the Chernihiv Historical Regional Museum named after Vasyl Tarnovskyi. The building withstood the capture of the city by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and 1919 and the Second World War. But two 500-kilogram high-explosive bombs turned the building into a ruin. Photos of this elegant house built in the Gothic style flew around the world. I don't know what this house is standing on now, almost without a roof and without a single wall. Perhaps the museum and library spirit does not allow it to fall. There, inside, on the remains of the wall, a stone slab with the inscription "In memory of Vasiliy Vasilyevich Tarnovsky, Chernihiv Gubernskoye Zemstvo" survived.

Crime recording and accounting in the informational and cultural space

"Currently, no one can determine the total number of monuments of cultural heritage of Ukraine," he emphasizes Vladyslav Berkovskyi, executive director of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund (UCF), because there was no purposeful state policy to identify objects and enter them into the state register, and this is a big problem." Vladyslav also noted that, in addition to architectural heritage, there are also ordinary buildings that contain cultural heritage, but they were also not recorded in the cultural and informational space. This picture is especially tragic in small towns, in particular in the Chernihiv region. And since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, of course, the situation has worsened even more. Therefore, the documentation of destruction (at least of registered objects) is extremely important, because it is the basis for the transition of these damages to the legal plane. This is evidence of war crimes committed by the aggressor country against Ukrainian cultural heritage.

On March 9, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine announced the collection of information on the destruction of cultural heritage sites of Ukraine. On April 5, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation launched an interactive "Map of Cultural Losses". According to Berkovsky, the objects marked there undergo a very strict check for compliance with actual damage. Therefore, the map is updated once a week. In addition to this accounting, the UKF is working on recording general losses in the field of culture, in particular, accounting for cultural figures who died tragically. UKF was the first organization to conduct such a social study. It was taken as a basis by the British Council, House of Europe and other international communities for the further provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

He spoke about the analysis of losses and the state of cultural infrastructure Ihor Poshivaylo, general director of the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, coordinator of the Heritage Rescue Headquarters (HERI — Heritage Emergency Response Initiative): "The Smithsonian Institute is helping us a lot in this matter. The Americans have created a satellite monitoring system for 26 of our cultural objects and help to monitor threatening situations or facts of crimes, especially in those places where we do not have access. For example, the laboratory at the Virginia Museum of Nature provided photographs of the first museum in Ivankovo ​​destroyed by scabies. And there are many such developments. Sooner or later, I hope, they will become materials in the international court."

The consequences of war crimes regarding cultural heritage are documented by various communities, volunteers, and local initiatives. Thus, the team of the Ukrainian Institute, with the support of the USAID project and the participation of the creative agency Green Penguin Media, created the special project "Postcards from Ukraine", which illustrates the difference between the condition of buildings before and after the bombings and shelling. Architectural landmarks of the Chernihiv region were also included in the postcards.

The creation of virtual war museums is being done by a team of Kyiv volunteers "Close War", whose coordinator is Dmytro Matyash. From the very beginning, the project was agreed with the Kyiv City State Administration and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The team cooperates with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Culture. These 3D tours provide the effect of presence in a terrible reality, convey a painful chronicle of the results of the strikes of the Russian occupiers. Recently, the project team, together with Discover UA, with the support of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Nationalities and Religions of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration and the Chernihiv Regional Tourism Development Center, presented part of the tours dedicated to the Chernihiv region. "The first part of the virtual museum is already available for viewing by the general public on our website "Chernihiv Region Tourism", - says Tetyana Korzhynska, - here you can see the ruins of Chernihiv and the village of Novoselivka. So far, filming has already been carried out in the villages of Yagidny, Ivanovka, Lukashivka, Anisov, Nova Bykov, Nova Basan, Velyka Doroza, Pryputny and other villages in the central and southern parts of the region. Their processing and creation of appropriate tours is ongoing. Access to northern communities remains impossible due to almost daily enemy shelling. There is also damage to monuments, in particular in Novgorod-Siverskyi, in the Horodnya community."

Evacuation of cultural property

One of the primary tasks of the cultural sector in wartime is to ensure the evacuation of cultural property. But it turned out that here the country was not ready either normatively, personnel-wise, or psychologically, assures Vladyslav Berkovskii. Here's what he says about it Kateryna Chueva, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine for European Integration: "Existing evacuation plans and opportunities should be quickly adjusted. And in order to take all these steps in time, you need to have a huge safe area to move objects." Chuyeva also noted that the world practice currently tends to preserve archaeological monuments on the ground (without transportation to central museums), which makes them more vulnerable, especially when it comes to small collections that are located in areas with difficult access.

Despite the official letter of the Ministry of Culture prohibiting the arbitrary evacuation of museum exhibits without a written order and the lack of regulations regarding the protection of exhibits in emergency situations, some museum managers take the initiative, risking their own lives. Serhii Laevskyi told us about his experience in this matter. The team of the Vasyl Tarnovskyi Chernihiv Historical Regional Museum began the process of preparing for the evacuation of the cultural property back in 2014: lists of exhibits were drawn up, meetings and training were held, an action algorithm was developed, and packing materials were purchased. This was repeated in 2015 and 2018. In mid-January 2022, Laevsky spoke to the ministry and asked for clear evacuation recommendations, but never received a response. We had to rely on our own strength and space. Gathering on February 24, the museum staff packed and moved the most valuable items to storage. During March-April, the rest of the exhibits were dismantled. "We are talking about several thousand objects: ceramics, porcelain, glass, metal, fabric, wood," says Serhii Laevskyi, "hard, but daily, several hours, work distracted from fear. This was important not only for the preservation of the collections, but also for the preservation of himself. And questions about evacuation arise even today. And all this, unfortunately, traditionally remains words."

Yuriy Tkach, Director of the Chernihiv Regional Museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan, said that on February 24, their team managed to move the most valuable part of the museum collection to the safest possible place. "In the first weeks of the war, the ministry was not in touch and did not carry out any visible work for us. I understand that it is very difficult to keep in touch with several thousand museums, but in all the previous years, no mechanisms were developed that could be applied immediately after the beginning of the invasion," Yuriy comments on the situation.

In addition to museums, archives are a valuable component of the historical and cultural heritage. And the situation with the rescue of documents is simply catastrophic. Vladyslav Berkovskiy spoke to us about this: "Currently, we do not have any regulatory document that would determine where to take the archive. As a result, we have a completely destroyed industry archive of the Security Service in Chernihiv. If you wanted to find out why your grandfather was repressed, you will never succeed. And this is the fault of the state archival service, which was supposed to ensure evacuation and preservation measures." Unfortunately, even having created ideal conditions for the evacuation of documents and exhibits, we cannot influence the protection of the rest of the cultural property. "When in Chernihiv Oblast Russian tanks drove into an archeological monument, and the Rashists began to dig trenches on historical mounds, we, the Ukrainians, are not to blame," emphasizes Vladyslav, "no matter what we do, no matter what prohibitions we establish, this barbarians who destroy everything."

Conservation. Restoration. Reconstruction

"Restrictions regarding the stabilization, restoration or reconstruction of damaged buildings are determined by the buildings themselves, that is, the condition in which they are," explains Ihor Poshivaylo, "in most cases, there may be no choice if the building is in an emergency condition." Here, the work of teams of rescuers, architects, design engineers, restorers, who must develop a plan of measures for the short and medium term for restoration, is quite responsible and narrow-profile work. Based on the categories "destroyed", "damaged", "ruined", we have three approaches: conservation, restoration and reconstruction. Which of the methods to use will be clear after the analysis of the condition and the presentation of the experts' report, Artem Hlushchenko notes. According to him, preparatory work is currently being carried out on the damaged architectural monuments: examination for the detection of explosive objects, visual examinations, commission examinations with the involvement of specialists to determine further ways of restoration.

The main goal of conservation is to stop further destruction and to physically preserve the structure, but in the conditions of war, this approach still transfers the affected objects to another plane - the plane of memorialization. "Local communities prefer to get rid of traumatic memory as soon as possible and heal all "wounds" in public space," says Ihor Poshivaylo. — I am for the museification of war in architecture and public space. I believe that it is necessary to preserve for children and future generations, and maybe sometimes for "cotton" citizens, the destroyed Irpinsky bridge, fragments of the "Mriya" plane, Tarnovsky's house in Chernihiv, the Church of the Ascension in the village of Lukashivka, the basement of the school where the occupiers kept hostages, in to the neighboring village of Yagidne... Preservation does not mean leaving the objects in the state they are in after the destruction, but preserving the most important authentic elements for the memory of the tragic events and creating a new identity for these places, where thousands of tourists will come after the war to give to honor the heroism and resilience of Ukrainians, to convince ourselves of the crimes of the occupiers and the barbarism of the Russian Federation and to leave feelings for further actions, so that truly "never again".

Regarding the damaged objects, restoration or reconstruction will be carried out, explains Vladyslav Berkovskii. An example here can be one of the old railway stations in the Chernihiv region. As a result of the explosions, the station burned down, but the walls remained. They need to be restored, painted, cleaned of scorched areas, roofed - the building has been preserved. The main feature of such a restoration is that the architectural monument must preserve its uniqueness and authenticity, emphasizes Artem Hlushchenko. "Unfortunately, this is not always possible, and there are no relevant regulations in the legislation regarding such cases, so the regulations need to be revised with the aim of introducing exceptions, especially considering the situation in the country and the fact that Chernihiv region continues to be subject to regular shelling."

Currently, 70 objects of Ukrainian cultural heritage have been completely destroyed. Here, architects, historians, and urban planners will make decisions about further actions. "For example, a residential building of the XNUMXth century, which was in Chernihiv. After hitting the missile, a pile of bricks remained from him. It makes sense to rebuild it, but there are several such buildings in the city of Chernihiv, - says Berkovsky, - and there is a possibility that a new building will be built in its place. The most important problem is that this path, especially in small towns, does not become the most popular."

Involvement of the international community

Immediately after the blockade of Chernihiv and the retreat of the Russians, the regional center and the entire region began to establish partnerships with individual organizations, cities, and entire countries. In mid-July, representatives of international organizations that take care of the preservation and protection of cultural and historical places in the world visited the destroyed towns of Chernihiv Oblast. The Polish city of Rzeszów became Chernihiv's new sister city. France, Norway, and Latvia announced their readiness to help in the reconstruction of Chernihiv Oblast. Latvian partners are ready to provide assistance from business circles, as well as to apply to the EU for additional funding.

Involvement of the international community is a very important step towards the restoration of cultural heritage. In this direction, the Heritage Rescue Headquarters performs titanic work. At the international level, he cooperates with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Center for Research, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Council for the Protection of Monuments and Historic Sites (ISOMOS), the ICOM Committee for Increasing the Resilience of Museums to Emergencies (ICOM-DRMC), the Smithsonian Initiative for the Rescue of Cultural Heritage (SCRI), the Pan-European Federation of Associations for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra, Heritage for Peace (Netherlands-Syria) ... And this is only a third of the list. Ihor Poshivaylo said that cooperation covers many areas: coordination of providing institutions with packaging or restoration materials, protective equipment and financial assistance, conducting trainings, adapting and spreading in Ukraine the world methodical and practical experience of protecting heritage during the war, documenting damaged objects, imposition of sanctions on the cultural sector of the aggressor country.

UKF made a significant contribution. Vladyslav Berkovskii noted that from the first days of the full-scale war, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation began to appeal to the entire international community with a call to stop Russian aggression and help protect the cultural heritage of Ukraine. In the first month, the employees of the foundation sent more than five thousand appeals about the termination of cooperation with Russia, with Russian cultural agencies. "Russian culture must be isolated. It should not be in the world space," Berkovsky comments on the situation. It was thanks to the UKF that many institutions excluded Russians from their membership and supported Ukraine.

Serhii Laevskyi spoke about the role of the international community and Ukrainian foundations in supporting museums: "Thanks to the grant assistance of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones (ALIPH), we purchased equipment for arranging fund storage facilities in the museum premises and today we are moving our collections. In addition, great help is provided by numerous partners: Ukraine Art Aid Center, Mr. Stefan Dompke and his team and a whole chain of volunteers in Ukraine, the Heritage Rescue Headquarters and their incredible team. It is impossible to overestimate their work. I can't even imagine all this effort. Museums usually see the end result — a car with everything they need at their doorstep.”

According to Yuri Tkach, the Chernihiv Regional Art Museum named after Hryhoriy Galagan received financial assistance from the ALIPH fund for packaging materials, an autonomous power source (solar station) and equipment for window protection. In addition, from the Committee for Assistance to Ukrainian Museums, directly from the Pavlo Vladkowicz Institute (Poland), for equipment for digitizing the museum collection.

Digitization of cultural heritage and 3D scanning

In the conditions of war, it is difficult to predict which object of cultural heritage may end up in the war zone and what will happen to the one that has already ended up. Therefore, the creation of digital archives is a hot issue at the moment. On July 12, 2022, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy announced the creation of a digital platform for the management of national cultural heritage in cooperation with UNESCO for the preservation, generation and control of cultural heritage information in public access. Saving data on physical media or servers in Ukraine does not guarantee security, so the world community provides its server capacity and digital space.

A number of Ukrainian initiatives joined the digitization of heritage. Volunteers and creative teams create electronic versions of documents, maps, books, paintings, music, movies, houses. The Skeiron team is working on a visual archive of 3D models of monuments of Ukraine. The Pixelated Realities team is perfecting the methods of preserving objects through digital production. During a full-scale invasion, they embody the Museum of Ukrainian Victory project.

One of the most modern and effective methods of analysis involving digitization is 3D scanning. It makes it possible to document the state of the object in the most detailed and qualitative way, in order to work with the program of its restoration, reconstruction or restoration. "This information forms the basis of restoration projects," explained Kateryna Chuyeva, "for example, in the building of the library in Chernihiv, which is one of the first museums in Ukraine, 3D scanning makes it possible to record the damage as fully as possible and analyze it. Scanning is carried out from the outside and inside, experts examine the structures and can give certain conclusions and recommendations.

"Assessment of losses and risks can help to quickly determine an action plan for stabilization and early recovery of destroyed objects, and therefore help to determine priorities for reconstruction, orientate on the scope of work," says Ihor Poshivaylo. He believes that it is necessary to more actively introduce system laser scanning and photogrammetry of objects, the creation of their 3D models, which will allow not only to record damage, but also to monitor further changes, to use this data for museification processes. "We already actively use aerial photography of monuments. Laser scanning is the next important stage, and in fact it is not so difficult, you need to undergo certain training and purchase an expensive scanner and software, - Poshivailo says, - one of our partners, the French architect from Switzerland Emmanuel Durand, in several expeditions with the Staff, demonstrated the possibility and the need for the majority of Ukrainian specialists to master this specialty".

During the expedition of the Heritage Rescue Headquarters to the Chernihiv Region, specialists documented such objects as the Ascension Church in the village of Lukashivka, the Chernihiv Regional Youth Center, and the building of the Vasyl Tarnovsky Museum of Ukrainian Antiquities. "These objects were documented together with us by representatives of international organizations ISOMOS and ICCROM, and laser scanning was carried out by Swiss and Lithuanian experts. So there is hope that they will be included in the plan for the restoration of Ukraine presented in Lugano, and the whole civilized world will help us rebuild the monuments and preserve our cultural and national identity," says Ihor Poshivaylo.

Helping artists

In addition to assistance directly aimed at preserving architecture and cultural heritage, active work is currently underway to support cultural events and individual artists. Culture can and should develop even in conditions of war. The artistic front is an equally important sector in the approach of our victory.

In the first four months, the Heritage Rescue Headquarters provided assistance to 120 museums and cultural institutions from 22 regions. He initiated the Scholarship of Solidarity in the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of Ukraine, which is financially supported by the pan-European federation of cultural associations Europa Nostra and the Global Heritage Fund in partnership with the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones — the ALIPH Foundation. "The first tranche of collected funds amounts to 100 euros, from which active Ukrainian museum workers, librarians, archivists, restoration artists, and cultural activists will receive a one-time stipend of 000 euros," Ihor Poshivaylo said.

UKF developed the platform "Cultural space", which covers three areas: assistance to artists; assistance to institutions and organizations; support of projects related to the war, dissemination of information about Ukraine abroad. Aid to artists involves the allocation of funds for the restoration of artistic activity in various fields: literature and publishing, architecture and design, cinematography, music, fashion, etc. Until July inclusive, UKF was looking for donors and acted as an information intermediary between them and Ukrainian artists. Since July, when the fund received budget funds, the UKF was able to resume grant activities, that is, to allocate scholarships to artists (at the rate of 50-150 thousand hryvnias per artist). "Yesterday, we completed the stage of accepting applications: we received a total of 360 applications," says Vladyslav Berkovskyi, "currently we have started the technical selection, next will be the expert selection. At the end of August, we plan to sign contracts for the allocation of funds. We focus on approximately 40 scholarships."

About forgotten cities and popularization of monuments

One of the main problems of small towns is the lack of cultural objects on the mental map of both residents of local regional centers and foreign tourists. We have already talked about the fact that a considerable number of monuments are not registered at the state level. But they are also gradually disappearing in the cultural and information space. In order to avoid this, we need, firstly, a centralized state policy, and secondly, coordinated work of local actors: local experts, scientists, the architectural community, volunteers, as well as the tourism sector.

As for Chernihiv Oblast, our experts point out "hypothesized" and forgotten places in the region. Among the popular names are Kachanivka, Nizhyn, Baturyn and Chernihiv itself. "Some places have their own permanent audience that expands and grows geographically in waves. In the cases of proposals and projects, cultural institutions and the tourism sector have a lot of interesting things: festivals, routes, entertainment, gastronomy, cognitive tourism, which includes sights and museums. There are established connections, there is a vision of how to encourage people to come to Chernihiv Oblast, as well as invest in this industry," says Serhiy Laevsky. But most of the cities and villages of the region remain outside the tourist and information field. Yuriy Tkach draws attention to the palace and park architecture, as well as educational institutions and social institutions of the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries, which "attract with their modern style and mostly retain their simple sophistication."

Artem Hlushchenko considers the Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky Palace in the village of Vyshenki, a model of classicism, a building unique in its architecture, to be among the underrated sights of Chernihiv Oblast. "Limited funding makes it impossible to carry out its restoration," Artem notes. Serhii Laevskyi considers the city of Ljubech to be underrated. "The town, which is mentioned in the annals earlier than Chernihiv, under the year 882, is located on the hills of the left bank of the Dnieper," Serhii says, "several important historical events took place there during the princely times. The town is connected with Malusha, Dobrina, Antony Pecherskyi, Ivan Mazepa, Polubotki and Miloradovych families. The latter left behind architectural complexes. Fate was not kind to Lubech. It slowly turned into an ordinary village, and not a better one. But his fame is not forgotten, and better times will return to the cozy streets and hills of Ljubets."

What should be done to promote Ukrainian cultural locations? Vladyslav Berkovsky considers it very important to create conditions for tourism: it is necessary to establish the infrastructure for travel and systematize important information for tourists in unified information portals, in particular, to create general tourist catalogs in different languages. It should interest tourists from all over the world. "The issue of positioning tourism potential and cultural heritage is a very important issue," notes Tetyana Korzhynska. — And we pay almost the most attention to him. First, it's internet positioning, but it has to be right. There are certain methods and algorithms for this. And now, in the conditions of war, we are focusing our attention on this, because we do not hold promotional tours for tour operators and bloggers, nor participation in tourist exhibitions, nor our own events. However, we are constantly spreading information about Chernihiv Oblast as a region with incredible tourist opportunities, hospitality and readiness to receive tourists even in this difficult time for the country, because we should give ourselves at least a short break and reset."

The war caused significant losses to Ukrainian cultural heritage and the cultural sector as a whole, which even then required significant attention. We found ourselves in a situation of unsettled connections, absence or obsolescence of the regulatory framework, untested algorithms for actions in emergency conditions. Not to mention the physical destruction of buildings and works of art. But at the same time, we have a semi-absurd, semi-phenomenal, simply impressive side of the issue. The tragic events surrounding the Skovoroda museum, Prymachenko's paintings, and Scythian gold worked as "advertisement" for the world community. Considerable danger, organizational obstacles, underdevelopment of state institutions forced a large number of foundations, organizations, and communities to react instantly and unite. The fear of losing cultural heritage activated the resource, launching an endless number of programs, discussions and projects. Human dignity and dedication of individual figures and artists rooted the idea that the enemy will not be able to destroy Ukrainian history, culture, or heritage.