“Half of the halls were affected”: how a Russian rocket canceled the birthday of the Odessa Art Museum
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“This time I understood that everything. First impression is everything“, Svitlana from Odessa remembers the night of November 6. At eight o’clock in the evening, a Russian rocket hit the asphalt a few dozen meters from the woman’s house. The old building, typical of the middle of the city of Odessa, withstood the blast wave: the only damage was broken windows. In general, according to the city authorities , the Russian attack damaged 33 buildings in Odessa.
Through the windows of Svitlana’s house, glassless and dusty, you can see the damaged building of the Odessa Art Museum. The “Hud Museum”, as it is usually called in Odessa, suffered almost the most damage from the rocket attack among all the buildings on Sofiivska Street. The rocket hit a few meters from the fence. The explosion caused the wall to crumble and the signs that informed about the protection of the museum by the laws of Ukraine and UNESCO were knocked over.
The museum building itself also suffered extensive damage. It all happened on his birthday – today he turned 124 years old.
“The museum has never had such a birthday”
“Today is the museum’s 124th anniversary“. From these words the acting director of the Odesa National Art Museum Kateryna Kulai begins the story about last night. The mood is far from celebratory: a day that should have been dedicated to celebrations was spent fixing damage from a Russian missile strike.
| Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
The museum suffered the most in those places where the windows used to be and which were repaired from the previous rocket attack.
“Approximately half of the museum’s halls were damaged, the ceiling and walls were damaged. How serious the damage to the walls in several halls is – it is still difficult to say.” – the head of the museum shares information.
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| Half of the museum’s halls were damaged. Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
Windows were the most affected by the attack. On the side of Sofiivska Street, almost all the glass was broken.
Museum employees were not injured. The security guard, who was on duty during the attack, acted according to the instructions – he sat through the air alarm in the bomb shelter.
Read also: Built by the Russian Empire, destroyed by the Russian Federation: five dates from the life of the Odessa Cathedral, which was hit by a rocket
“There were temporary exhibitions in the halls”
The damage to the exhibits in the museum is estimated to be insignificant.
“Unfortunately, on the second floor there is damage to the walls and a very dusty private collection of Eduard Dymshchyts [робіт] Romana and Magrit Selskikh, – comments the head of the museum. – There was no significant damage to the exhibits both on the first and second floors. Today we are expecting restorers.”
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| Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
Valuable stained glass windows, grotto and underground storages were also not damaged.
Most of the museum’s paintings and collections were saved thanks to the evacuation. In two waves, the most valuable paintings were taken from Odessa to safer places. In recent months, the museum exhibited, for the most part, the works of modern Ukrainian artists.
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| The works of Oleksandr Grekhov. Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
Due to damage to the exhibition halls, the museum suspended the exhibition of works by Boris Eisenberg, Oleksandr Grekhov, Volodymyr Semkiv and Albina Yaloza.
Read also: The collection of the Odesa Art Museum was evacuated in advance – the head of the OVA
“We were already in touch with UNESCO yesterday”
The museum building is protected simultaneously by the law of Ukraine and UNESCO. Built by the Italian architect Francesco Boffo, it originally served as a manor house for the rich princely families of the Russian Empire. At the end of the 19th century, the philanthropist Hryhoriy Marazli bought the building and handed it over to the city administration.
Since 2017, the museum has been headed by the Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roitburd. Under his leadership, repairs were carried out in the institution, the museum gained all-Ukrainian popularity. Roitburd died in 2021.
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| Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
In 2021, already after the death of Oleksandr Royburd, the museum received the status of “National”. At the beginning of this year, the building was included in the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger.
This is not the first time Russian attacks have caused damage. In the summer of this year, the windows were damaged by blast waves and replaced with new ones. Since then, the Ministry of Culture and museum workers have initiated the evacuation of exhibits.
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| Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
Among the well-known monuments of the museum is the toppled monument of Catherine the Second. The Russian empress was dismantled from the center of Odessa exactly one year ago – on November 9. It is kept in a shelter, a hundred meters from which the Russian rocket fell.
Read also: A sculpture of Catherine II lies in front of the entrance to the Odessa Art Museum, and photos of dead enemies are shown inside: report
“Today several commissions are to record the consequences of that night. And after that, the windows from both facades of the museum will be sewn up with sandwich bags. And, in fact, restoration work with private collections and restoration of damage inside is carried out inside“, says Kyrylo Lipatov, head of the scientific exhibition department, about the future of the museum.
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| Photo: Ivan Strakhov / Odesa National Art Museum |
Read also: From Ukrainian art abroad, petrikovka and pysanky are known – the director of the Odesa Art Museum
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