Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex explained

Mystetskyi Arsenal
Logo Upright:0.8
Location:10-12 Lavrska Street
Kyiv, Ukraine
Type:Art museum
Visitors:173,550 (2018)[1]
Director:Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta
Publictransit:Subway

Arsenalna (Kyiv Metro)

Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex, also known as Mystetskyi Arsenal (Ukrainian: Мистецький арсенал, translated as the «Art Arsenal») — is Ukraine's flagship public cultural institution, a museum and art exhibition complex located at 10–12 Lavrska Street, in Kyiv, Ukraine.[2]

The total exhibition area of the historic venue is 60,000 m2, one of the largest in Europe. The institution's stated mission is to modernize Ukrainian society through raising awareness of social issues, fostering communication with the international community, and introducing outstanding local and international artists to the world.

The complex was visited by 173,550 visitors in 2018. It hosted 6 exhibitions, 2 festivals, 299 guided tours, 52 educational projects and 13 large-scale theatrical productions the same year. The venue also hosts Ukraine's biggest annual book fair, attended by 50,000 visitors.[3]

The complex is legally under the control of the State Management of Affairs.

History

The unique art complex has a rich history and is located in a building intended as a workshop for the manufacturing, repair work and storage of ammunition and cannons, as part of the major Pechersk citadel complex. This original purpose explains the building's massive walls, over 183 cm (6 feet) thick.[4]

It was built on the former site of a female monastic community dating back to the 1540s — the Voznesenskyi (Ascension) Pechersk monastery. A major patroness of the monastery in the early 18th century was Hetman Ivan Mazepa's mother — Mariia Magdalyna.

Two churches that existed on the site of the monastery were subsequently dismantled to allow for the construction of the military workshop. However, their foundations remained and were excavated in 2005 in preparation for the opening of the Mystetskyi Arsenal to the public. The excavation revealed a major necropolis containing hundreds of burials of nuns and the presumed body of Mariia Magdalyna, as well as a host of objects of historical value dating back as early as the 1300s.

The complex was designed by an architect of German descent Karl Johann Shpekle in 1798. The construction of the current building was supervised by a military engineer by the name of Charles de Chardon, a native of Dohis, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, who was then living in Kyiv. The structure was subsequently completed by a local Ukrainian merchant by the name of Mykhailo Hryhorenko. The Arsenal building is unique — it is the first building in Kyiv in the style of classicism to be built of yellow Kyiv bricks. Due to the properties of local clay, the local bricks acquire a yellow-amber hue, leading to the informal name of "the porcelain Arsenal."

"Mystetskyi Arsenal" National Culture, Arts and Museum Complex was established on the initiative of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko under the Order of the Government of Ukraine № 49 of March 3, 2005. The Arsenal building was awarded architectural heritage monument status in 1979 and continued to be in use by the armed forces through the beginning of the 21st century. In 2003 Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex was created from the military facility. Large-scale archaeological excavations took place in the inner courtyard between 2005 and 2009.

In 2010 the entire complex was granted national monument status and conservation works are continuing while the facility remains open to the public.[5]

Facing the threat of loss or destruction of collections during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, museum director Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta stated that: "When the war started, we had our instructions for how to act in this situation. We did our security plans and we are acting according to them. The museum is shut and guarded."[6]

Mission

The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to promote the modernization of Ukrainian society and contribute to the integration of Ukraine into the world, based on the value and potential of Ukrainian culture.

Mystetskyi Arsenal does this by raising relevant social issues, establishing relationships with the international community, acquainting both the Ukrainian and the international community with each other's artistic and intellectual cultures, and thus stimulating mutual development.

The projects of the Mystetskyi Arsenal raise important societal issues, and provide space for creativity. The institution serves as a platform for interaction with the world cultural community through joint cultural projects.

Mystetskyi Arsenal serves as a mediator between professionals and the general public, explaining cultural and social phenomena, and their causes. It is a platform for education and interaction for a variety of audiences: adults, children and teens, artists and cultural workers.Mystetskyi Arsenal integrates and develops various arts and cultural practices. Integration takes place through laboratory areas that constantly interact with each other. In this way, different arts develop and enrich each other. There is a Small Gallery on the territory of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, which presents young Ukrainian art, as well as the projects of leading domestic artists.

Educational programs

Mystetskyi Arsenal aims to reorient the typical visitor experience from passive perception of information to active involvement and interaction with the exhibitions, professionals. Educational programs provide not only new knowledge and skills, but also the tools needed for critical thinking and creative self-expression.

Purposes:

  1. Adaptation of information about exhibition projects for different audiences;
  2. Creating a communicative space for discussion, interaction and development;
  3. Content creation (educational and entertainment);
  4. Systematization, preservation and dissemination of knowledge and experience among the professional community.

Permanent programs

Exhibition history

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Arsenal. 2019 . artarsenal.in.ua. 2020-05-01.
  2. Web site: MISSION. February 27, 2018.
  3. Web site: Annual report, 2018. 2018. Art Arsenal.
  4. Web site: A Kyiv Gallery So Stunning People Forget to Look at the Art. 2019-04-25. OZY. 2020-05-01.
  5. Web site: MYSTETSKYI ARSENAL HISTORY. 2018-02-27. Арсенал. en-GB. 2020-05-01.
  6. News: 2022-03-04 . Ukraine: The race to save the country's artistic treasures . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-03-05.

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