

DutchCulture welcomed seven outstanding museum professionals from Ukraine for a one-week visit to the Netherlands. We asked the participants - directors of various museums and heritage protection networks - to share their stories with and have their voices heard by the Dutch cultural sector during our gathering Care & Resilience: Ukrainian Museums in Times of War on Tuesday 28 February. We listened to difficult stories of loss and destruction, but also inspiring examples of bravery, sticking together, fighting for one’s values, renewal and hope.
We captured their visit in a very touching video:
An open discussion with the audience followed the presentations during the public event. Ihor Poshyvailo, General Director of the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, called for the recording, sharing and safeguarding of Ukrainian history. "Because of the Soviet past, this has always been very difficult," he says, "and now is the time to connect with theatres and educators to ensure that this heritage remains."
Peer Ulijn, a reporter for the NOS, asked DutchCulture's Tijana Stepanovic whether Dutch museums should develop exhibitions with objects from Ukraine to safeguard this heritage immediately. Stepanovic confirms this and emphasises the importance of international cooperation in the cultural sector: "Not only financially, but also from an educational and knowledge preservation point of view."
We are very grateful that Dutch media picked up our programme, for it is an important story to tell: