This article was written by Maria Blyzinsky, ICOM UK Trustee.
ICOM UK has been supporting a partnership project to digitise collections at the National Preserve ‘Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’, thanks to a grant from ICOM. It was one of six projects selected for funding in 2022 following a call out for proposals by the ICOM Strategic Allocation Review Committee (SAREC).
The Preserve is located in a UNESCO World Heritage site with a complex of 140 historical and cultural monuments dating from the 11th to 19th centuries, including the Saint Sophia Cathedral and monastic buildings. It is one of the largest museums in Ukraine with a collection of over 72,000 objects including unique icons, ancient books in silver bindings, carved crosses, sculptures, embroidery, engravings and archives. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the Preserve and its collections have been at risk of damage and loss.
The project, a collaboration with the National Preserve ‘Kyiv-Pecherst Lavra’ as well as ICOM Ukraine and the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, was established to create a digital catalogue and inventory of the Preserve’s monuments, collections and archive materials. Digitisation will improve access, safeguard the collections, create proof of ownership and record the condition of objects and buildings.
The SAREC fund was used to purchase scanning and computer processing equipment, software and storage media. In addition, UWE provided supplementary equipment and online training. In-kind support was provided by ICOM UK which also acted as the grant administrator. The equipment has been purchased and the digitisation project is now underway. Progress has been slow as a result of frequent air-raids and power outages. For those of us living under safe skies, it is unimaginable what difficulties are created by repeated military attacks, causing staff to interrupt their work, operate after sleepless nights and manage anxiety.
Yakiv Dikhtyar, Chief Architect at the National Preserve ‘Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’ said, ‘We are pleased to welcome the collaboration with ICOM UK and are sincerely grateful for the help of our partners… Thanks to this cooperation, we are confident that the most important documents on all the objects of the Preserve will be carefully kept. After all, even in times of war, the preservation of cultural heritage, especially that included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is a priority for the whole world. We would like to express our deep gratitude’.
Digitisation is an important step towards the protection of cultural heritage under threat. ICOM UK has been involved in a number of initiatives to support the protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. These include producing Heritage in Crisis, a series of online talks about the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage; commissioning a series of articles by a Ukrainian heritage professional about the impact of the war on Ukrainian culture; collaborating on a shipment of conservation and digitising equipment; supporting a conservator from Ukraine to attend training on post-conflict recovery; and a partnership project to develop a new Ukraine-focussed guide to decolonisation for museums.
Heritage protection and decolonisation are central parts of the work for both ICOM and ICOM UK. At ICOM UK, we very much value contributions made by our members towards these themes. Please do let us know if you are a member working on either theme or if you would like to make a suggestion.
For more Information:
National Preserve ‘Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’
Preserve’s UNESCO World Heritage Site
New guide to decolonisation focussed on Ukraine
ICOM UK Heritage in Crisis talks
Photo Credit: Taking digital photographs of the collection with the new equipment. © National Preserve ‘Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’
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