The Museum of the History of Kyiv hosted a presentation of a multimedia exhibition project that demonstrates the current Russian-Ukrainian war as a consequence of the centuries-old confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian civilizations with their completely opposite values, reports a correspondent of UNN .
The Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv presented a large-scale multimedia exhibition project “On Guard of St. Sophia,” the main idea of which is to encourage visitors to deeply understand the military events of both the present and the past.
The project is curated by Ukrainian historian and museum worker Vitalii Nakhmanovych. He began working on the exhibition in December 2022, and he admits that he was most eager to convey the root causes of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
“The very word 'Sophia' evokes different thoughts, different allusions. First, Sophia is wisdom. Secondly, Sophia is the mother of Faith, Hope and Love, and these are the qualities we need now. Next, St. Sophia of Kyiv is a historic church, a symbol of the historic unified ancient Russian church of St. Volodymyr's baptism. Thirdly, St. Sophia's Square is an ancient assembly square, a place where many important historical events took place. One way or another, all these dimensions are embodied in this exhibition, and that's why I chose such a symbolic title.” - explains Vitaliy Nakhmanovych.
The exhibition is divided into three thematic spaces, which are highlighted in certain colors to emphasize the presence of antithesis in the project. “Ukrainian Civilization” is a hall decorated in yellow and blue, which symbolizes the colors of the Ukrainian flag and represents light. The room called “Russian Civilization” uses maroon and black colors, emphasizing the character of the Russian-Soviet civilization and denoting darkness. And the third is the green room, the Kyiv Defense, which shows the consequences of the Russian invasion on the example of the unbreakable cities of Kyiv region in February-March 2022.
“This is not a historical exhibition, it does not tell the chronology of events. It presents certain images. Today, most exhibitions dedicated to the war show the armed struggle, but we decided to show the humanitarian dimension of this war, the consequences for people and culture.” - says the curator of the exhibition.
Importantly, the exhibition features exhibits from the stock collection of the Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.