On Tuesday, 9 September, the first meeting of the newly established Expert Board of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide took place in the Hall of Memory.
It comprises 12 representatives from the academic and museum communities, international organisations, the Ukrainian diaspora and the general public.
The Expert Board was established in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Museums and Museum Affairs’ as a permanent consultative and advisory body, whose remit includes providing the Museum team with recommendations regarding:
- organising and conducting academic research into documents from archival collections, particularly those of foreign states,
- integrating the Museum into the global academic community,
- expanding and enhancing international academic cooperation,
- developing design and technical plans for the Museum’s exhibitions.
First Deputy Minister of Culture Ivan Verbytskyi thanked the members of the Expert Board for their commitment and involvement in this crucial and responsible work, emphasising:
“Russia is erasing and denying the memory of the Holodomor; accordingly, it is our responsibility to preserve this memory, to remember all those who perished, as well as to tell the truth and work to ensure that such crimes do not repeat in the future. This is our responsibility to ourselves, to the Ukrainian people and to the world. After all, the Holodomor is a world-scale crime. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the work of the Holodomor Museum, a key global institution for studying and preserving the memory of the Holodomor, be as accurate as possible, grounded in scientific methods and respect for academic integrity, and aligned with the best practices of museum and memorial institutions.”
In an open vote, members of the Expert Board elected a Chair, historian and President of ICOM Ukraine, Anastasiia Cherednychenko. Frank Sysyn, Director of the Petro Yatsyk Centre for Ukrainian History Research (Canada), was elected Deputy Chair. Tymosh Martynenko-Kushlianskyi, a specialist in state policy on remembrance and communications, was elected Secretary of the Expert Board. After electing the Board’s leadership, the members reviewed the rules of procedure for their future work.
Lesia Hasydzhak, Director General of the Holodomor Museum, shared the Museum’s main areas of work and key achievements over the past five years, and outlined the priorities and challenges facing the team. In particular, one such priority is work on the second phase of the exposition, which is actively underway as part of the project ‘Support for the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Ukraine,’ implemented by Cowater International in partnership with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and funded by Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada.
Deputy Director General Olha Melnyk provided further details concerning the work on the second phase of the Museum’s exposition and emphasised that the Expert Board members’ experience, knowledge and ideas would be very valuable here.
We are grateful to the members of the Expert Board for taking on this significant and responsible role, and we wish them every success and inspiration in their work!
