OUR SPEAKERS: Olga Goncharova: “The whole world should know about the unbreakable Kherson region”
Ukrainian museums are currently going through hard times. But there are those that have suffered the most, and their employees know firsthand what it is like to work at gunpoint, at risk of death. And then – to live under constant shelling, but to stay where they are supposed to be and protect what the invaders did not have time to destroy or steal.
This is how the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore lives. During the Art of Victory Forum, its director Olha Honcharova will tell what its courageous employees went through when the Russian “liberators” burst through their doors.
“I want to tell you what our museum went through during the invasion of the Russian invaders and then, after the de-occupation. The invaders looted our museum, but we managed to save some things. Despite the difficulties – the lack of light, the cold, the risk of shelling, we continued to work,” says Olga Goncharova.
At the Forum, representatives of the Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore will present a stationary photo exhibition “Unbreakable Kherson Region”, which they made freshly after the occupation. Several dozen photos, which cannot leave anyone indifferent, present the dramatic period that Kherson region and the museum in particular went through. Images of the Russian invasion, armed occupiers. The incredible resistance of Kherson residents when they stopped enemy tanks and armored personnel carriers with their bare hands. Moments of joy and relief after the liberation of the city. The photo exhibition also tells about the terrible moments – the infamous “basements” where the invaders tortured those who did not agree to their “liberation”.
“With this exhibition, we show the whole shameful history of the Russian invasion: they came to us as masters, invaders, and ended up in disgrace. Our unbreakable Kherson region is no match for them,” says the museum director.
Despite the fact that the war is still ongoing, and the residents of Kherson, who are under daily shelling, remember it well, Olha Honcharova and her colleagues are already planning further actions for the period after the victory. They have developed the concept of a “Museum Town,” which will restore and renovate historic buildings on the museum’s grounds and create a creative space for young people. And in this matter, they are counting on the support of patrons and caring businesses.
“In this Museum Town, young creative people will be able to spend time with pleasure and benefit, to introduce new modern artistic approaches. Millions of people have left Ukraine because of the war. We need to bring them back home. But we need to make it interesting for them here,” concludes Olga Goncharova.
As a reminder, the Art of Victory Forum will be held in Lviv on December 8-9. To register for the event, please follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1672447053263491
Допис створений в рамках проекту за підтримки Відділу преси, освіти та культури Посольства США в Україні. Погляди авторів не обов’язково збігаються з офіційною позицією уряду США. / Supported by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.
