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STRONG
RESPONSIBLE
BRAVE
NATIONAL
ARTISTIC
MUSEUM OF UKRAINE:
TRANSFORM YOURSELF,
TRANSFORM PARTNERS
JULIA LYTVYNETS
Director of the National Art Museum,
Participant of the School of Strategic Architect of the fourth set
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System transformation
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Value awareness
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Confidence in the choice
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Impact on historical processes
WE CANNOT BE SEPARATE FROM SOCIETY, FROM THE STATE, FROM ALL THESE PROCESSES.
I have been working in the museum for a long time. Maybe not for a long time, but the feeling is that the whole life. This is how the circumstances turned out - probably the museum's, not mine - I won the competition for the position of general director. In this role, you begin to realize and analyze not only your path, but also the processes that take place in the museum, regardless of the context. To be honest, the museum largely depends on external factors. So we have to change.
But all processes take place not in a revolutionary way, but in an evolutionary way. 120 years is, on the one hand, a very short time, and on the other, a very long time, especially in a country like ours. We know how various socio-political aspects changed, how they influenced. You can no longer work with the old system, with the old image, because the museum has changed, society has changed. You need to be interesting to your current visitors.
YOU HAVE TO CHANGE. OTHERWISE YOU WILL SIMPLY STOP EXISTING.
The museum is not a stable unit. It also has a stable part that deals with objects. But how to work with them, how to realize and interpret them is a dynamic component. And we can work with it.
The transformations here have always been quite interesting. And these changes are connected not only with the fact that the works are being restored, but also with the fact that new research is being conducted, new views are emerging on the processes that took place one hundred, two hundred or three hundred years ago. Compare, for example, the exhibition policy: 2001 and now are completely different approaches to the selection of projects, to how they are carried out, and to who the partners are.
IT WAS INTERESTING NOT ONLY TO BE TRANSFORMED, BUT ALSO TO SEE HOW OTHER PARTICIPANTS CHANGE.
The transformation of me as a person, as an individual, as a leader took place at the School of Strategic Architect. I had certain feelings of the necessity of these transformations, there were some paths that could be chosen inside, but it was the School that gave confidence in the choice that was made. You stop doubting, discard your fears and start acting. It is very important.
It was also interesting to see how colleagues from the same group changed. I saw how the attitude towards the museum is changing. Because at the beginning they had the feeling that the museum is something that exists, but has no influence. It is like a fund store, where used material is taken. But over time, they realized that the museum is an important component of their work, and we cannot do anything without education, business, media, and especially our military. They all became friends of the museum. And now they take a direct part in our life — not just visiting exhibitions, but also very seriously helping in the implementation of projects.
A SENSE OF THE NEED FOR STATE PARTNER COOPERATION HAS ARISED.
I can say that now our museum has a greater influence on the state sphere. I have something to compare with, I have been working here for many years and have seen how the state's attitude towards the museum has changed. From complete ignoring to the fact that the museum can be used, forced to make some project, exhibition or simply demand works to decorate one's offices. And today there is already an understanding and awareness of the value of the property that the museum keeps. And not only of material value, but also of historical and spiritual value.
It seems to me that our society has begun to take shape as a nation. And it is very nice to be a participant in this process. I remember when there was a Revolution of Dignity, there was a feeling that you are part of a very big historical process that will affect not only your country, but also the whole world. From that moment, society began to realize itself as part of the state, its responsibility. It was very important for each of us to understand that we are changing. And we become part of something big, part of big changes. And not just an inconspicuous part, but a very important one. Not only because we were there, "in the line of fire", but precisely because there was an understanding of the transformation in society itself.
Now it is not just about the inhabited territory, but about active people who can change their country for the better. This is a society that understands the value of what previous generations have created. It is very nice to be a part of it. And it is very pleasant that the people you communicate with, who come to the museum, not only change themselves, but also change the state.
I WOULD LIKE THE MUSEUM TO BECOME EVEN MORE INFLUENTIAL.
Not only in the museum environment, because I have no doubts about our influence on other museums. We very often walk through, one might say, a "minefield". And for other museums, this is an example of the fact that certain things can be done because we have already tested them, or vice versa - not to do them, because we have already "exploded" on them before.
Our biggest ambitious goal is to become not just an important part of the state, but also an external player. To convey to the external audience all the value of our art. To convey its importance and to show that Ukraine, Ukrainian art is not something separate, but is a part of the great historical processes that Ukraine was forming and changing. I am sure that Ukraine will not lose the chance it once again received. We will reach a new level.
OLGA
BALASHOVA
Deputy General Director of the National Art Museum,
teacher of the "School of Strategic Architect",
Participant of the "Strategic Architect School" of the fourth set
What I like the most about the museum is the museum and the art. I had no idea before I started working here how quickly you get attached to things that eventually cease to be things. They become your interlocutors, just very close one.
I have the incredible fortune of generally communicating the meanings associated with original works. I have always said, say and will never get tired of repeating that art changes a person who comes into contact with it and gives itself the task of somehow treating it, analyzing it, feeling something in its presence. If a person does this work, he cannot remain as he was before he met art. This is a unique, absolutely unique meeting.
THE MUSEUM IS A PORTAL THROUGH WHICH WE TRANSFORM INTO CONSCIOUS CITIZENS.
Through art, we can build a dialogue not only with those people who live with us in the same space and time. And with people who lived before us two, three, four, ten centuries ago. This makes it possible to realize oneself not as a person of one generation, but to understand oneself and one's place in the world.
Of course, it was my favorite museum before I started working here. That's why I'm here. It was a revelation and even a trauma for me to realize how few people know about this museum. I lived in a beautiful world where everyone knows, loves and appreciates him. And they understand that this is the first place to come to learn something about Ukrainian art.
THERE IS NO COLLECTION IN THE WORLD MORE IMPORTANT FOR UKRAINE. BUT VERY MANY PEOPLE, EVEN IN KYIV, HAVE SIMPLY NEVER BEEN HERE.
I didn't realize how big this problem was. This is the challenge we are trying to overcome today. We want to take the museum outside its bubble, but also to break the bubbles of other people who for some reason did not get here.
I went to the "Strategic Architect School", not understanding at all what awaited me. I knew it was the right move and that it would have consequences. Perhaps this is one aspect that art teaches. Trust the space. To take a step into a certain unknown, realizing that a transformation will take place. Before that, I did not understand at all what part of the system the museum and the art community are. That is, I considered this space quite narrowly. I had no limits with the understanding of art, its task. But there was no awareness of what the institution works with as an organism, as a certain part of the overall system. And it appeared in "School".
It is a fantastic experience — to understand that people with a completely different background, a different understanding of their own tasks in business, in the public and public sectors can be like-minded. It's a multi-layered puzzle that folds into a 3D model — and it affects your outlook and subsequent decisions. It's really cool to feel like you're part of a community where everyone plays their role and is responsible for their part of the work, but everyone is on their way to their dreams. And the dream, of course, is connected with the fate of the country and the society to which we belong.
Our graduation project was called "Modern Art Museum". We thought about how to make contemporaries perceive this space as their own. That it is and should be a part of us. In order for us to realize ourselves and build a political nation. It was necessary to get it and make it a part of modern culture.
THIS INSTITUTION CANNOT BE REPLACED BY ANYTHING, BECAUSE THE DNA OF UKRAINIAN CULTURE IS PRESERVED HERE, THE DNA OF OUR VISUAL PERCEPTION, OUR SELF-REFLECTION IS PRESERVED HERE.
We began to work on a vision of how to make this value visible to modern generations.
How to attract a young audience here, for whom a trip to the museum is not a self-evident need? It should be done with modern technologies, modern exhibition design. The kind that should include a person on a different level - first on an emotional-physical level, on the level of experiences, and then immerse him in the historical and cultural context. Now we can afford some experiments. We make unexpected projects that simply provoke the community to a certain reaction - in order to study it. This is a difficult task. I have always been on the side of the artist, the art critic, the professional community, and I have never been on the side of the viewer who wants to feel the connection on the level he can, with the space in which he finds himself.
We understood that the museum is the portal through which the public mass can turn into conscious citizens who are responsible for their history and culture. It has been our job to shape this story, and we will continue to do so.
WE
ARE
PROUD
LILIA HRYNEVYCH
Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine
SERGEY BADRITDINOV
CEO INTERTOP Ukraine
SERGEY KASYANCHUK
Director of the representative office
World Congress of Ukrainians in Ukraine