In Ukraine, a Red List of endangered cultural values ​​was created: museum workers explained what it provides

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The International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine presented the Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk – Ukraine. Read UP.Culture in Telegram ICOM and MKIP announced plans to create it almost a year ago – on June 28, 2022, the press service of the Ministry of Culture reported. Since then, experts from 11 Ukrainian museums have started work on the list together with the ICOM Heritage Protection Department. The published Red List included 53 types of objects belonging to seven categories – archeology, books and manuscripts, numismatics, folk, religious, applied and visual arts. These are cultural values ​​that, due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, are under threat of theft, looting, and illegal export. Among other things, the list included: Trypil pottery, terracotta figurines from the Crimea, Scythian ornaments for horses, a Crimean Tatar women’s belt, a wedding dress from the Ternopil region, Kosiv ceramics, paintings by Mykola Pymonenko, Maria Primachenko, Oleksandr Bogomazov, Oleksandra Ekster, the Ostroh Bible, a theological manuscript from Bakhchisaray and other values. We asked one of the experts who worked on the creation of the Red List, the general director of the National Art Museum of Ukraine Yuliya Lytvynets, about how the objects were selected and what significance this document has for the museum sphere. “Actually, the first conversation about the need to do this was in May (2022). In June, we already officially started this work, experts were already being recruited. From our side, the work was almost completely completed in December. Then the approval stages began.” – Lytvynets said. The first page of the Red List of endangered cultural values ​​- Ukraine The task of selecting works for the list was difficult and responsible, she emphasized. “An expert group was formed, which included art historians and museum colleagues. They worked for several months to select samples from their collections. Of course, the list was much larger. For example, now there is one icon of St. Nicholas, and in total there were a lot was selected. But it was necessary to choose a typical icon from all this array. It didn’t matter which of the saints was depicted, but according to its stylistic features it had to reflect many regions of Ukraine and be typical. It was actually very difficult, because Ukraine is large, there were many styles, different currents, influences. But we tried to constantly abstract ourselves, we understood that one of the 20 icons should be chosen. And in such a way that a person is ignorant, the same customs officer, seeing an icon, immediately said: stop, it’s Ukrainian.” – explained the general director of NHMU. Screenshot of the Red List Lytvynets noted that the art objects listed in the Red List are included in the collections of the museums that worked on its creation, so they are safe. And the document is actually a guideline for other countries so that they can prevent the importation of looted goods into Ukraine. “These works are a standard, a sample of those works that are actually already under threat of destruction, theft. This document will be translated in the future into various languages ​​of those countries that have a border, in our case, with the aggressor country. This Red List will be distributed among customs officers, border guards, who are the first to encounter those crossing the border. For them, this will serve as an example of what to pay attention to first of all,” the expert explained. According to her, the official publication of the list by the ministry actually means that it has been put to work at the international level. “If a person crosses the border and illegally carries with him items that will be similar to the items on this Red List for the customs officer, then he is obliged to stop this person, check in detail and determine where he took this item from. Perhaps it is stolen and belongs to Ukraine,” Lytvynets added. Screenshot of the Red List When asked whether the Red List should help prevent the removal of objects from museums looted by the Russian occupiers, for example, the Kherson Local History Museum, the general director of the National Museum of National History of Ukraine answered: “When we formed this list, at that time works had not been stolen in Kherson, but we have already thought about it, and submitted samples of works that can be there.” In addition, Lytvynets emphasized, the experts included Crimean Tatar cultural objects in the list. “This is also important for Ukraine not only in the sense that we lost territories, but also in the understanding of the importance of the Crimean Tatars for Ukraine,” she said. Read also: “This is the place where museum workers save themselves and Ukrainian heritage”: Initiator of the Museum Crisis Center Olga Gonchar

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