“Too early for celebrations”

The Kyiv City Council’s commission for culture and tourism has lent its support to the proposal to museumify the Hostynny Dvir [literally translated as the Merchants’ Court, the city’s ancient shopping center, long defunct. – Translator] by housing the Museum of Kyiv’s History there (let us recall that Den covered the winter preparations for the building in its No. 176, September 23, 2014). Deputy chair of the Kyiv City State Administration Hanna Starostenko was quoted as making a statement to that effect by the administration’s website: “The Museum of Kyiv’s History lost its old home in 2004, when the Klov Palace, where it had been housed, was handed over to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The Museum was allocated the building at 7 Khmelnytskoho Street in 2012. However, its floor area, amounting to just about 2,000 square meters, can accommodate only 2,500 exhibits from the museum’s collection,” she explained.

 To accommodate all the usual exhibitions, numbering 250,000 exhibits, the museum needs at least 6,000 square meters. Floor area of the Hostynny Dvir, amounting to 9,000 square meters, is enough to not only accommodate all of the exhibits, but other historical and artistic objects as well.

 We should note, though, that the Hostynny Dvir building is in disrepair. Den mentioned in an earlier article on September 23, 2014, that the funds for its reconstruction were being collected by activists of the Andriivsky Uzviz and Peizazhna Alley Initiative. Out of 1,000,000 hryvnias required, they have collected just 9,000.

COMMENTARY

Ihor LUTSENKO, civic activist, founder of the movement for the preservation of historic buildings in Kyiv, Kyiv city councilor:

 “We have two levels of decisions to take: important and desirable. Given the current fiscal realities, this initiative is likely to be of the latter kind, but of course, we must do all we can to make it advance to the important level. This initiative is important to preserve the Hostynny Dvir. To raise funds, we need to show the correct and beautiful picture. We show that it will house a museum, so the city should take care of this building, because when we just asked the council to fund a reconstruction effort, people did not understand what it would become and what it all was for. The outer limit of our dreams is to have a social and cultural purpose building there, but I am very cautiously optimistic about this. Our budget is fit for a beggar, while the museum is a public institution. It is complicated further as the Museum of Kyiv’s History has wandered long, it actually was homeless for a time, and the history of Kyiv is for some reason lacking in public interest. Therefore, it is too early for celebrations of this decision’s prompt implementation so far.

 “I would rule out outright our chances of getting municipal funding at the moment. You need to go to the public and say: ‘Let us follow a plan. We should conserve this building so that it makes it through the winter, and use this time to raise funds for the history of Kyiv.’ We would be able to move on then, having assured that the building is immune to cold and vibration and can be worked on.”