Cultural Heritage in Ukraine: Inside the Race to Safeguard the Irreplaceable
A Heritage Now Event
With Bénédicte de Montlaur, Kateryna Chuyeva, Milena Chorna, Kateryna Goncharova, and Alexandra Fiebig.
As of February 25, 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine has verified damage to 1,322 cultural infrastructure sites resulting from the ongoing war with Russia. These include libraries, museums and galleries, theaters, creative hubs, and art education institutions. UNESCO has also confirmed damage to over 210 monuments, and religious, historic, and cultural sites across Ukraine —places at the very center of the country's national identity.
Join us for an inside look at what Ukrainian heritage professionals and international organizations are doing to safeguard their irreplaceable heritage. With examples taken from World Monuments Fund’s (WMF) Ukraine Heritage Response Fund, the event will focus on some of the major challenges facing professionals on the ground and upcoming priorities as armed fighting continues.
Our panel of guest speakers will feature Kateryna Chuyeva, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and 2022 Watch Award recipient; Milena Chorna, art historian, expert on the cultural heritage sector at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and Head of the International Exhibitions Department at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War; Alexandra Fiebig, Project Manager at the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH); and Kateryna Goncharova, Ukraine Heritage Crisis Specialist at WMF. The conversation will be moderated by WMF President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur.
Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023
Time: 12:00 noon ET
Location: Zoom
This event has already taken place. All proceeds went towards WMF’s Ukraine Heritage Response Fund in support of our work in Ukraine. All members were invited to attend free of charge.
About the Speakers
Bénédicte de Montlaur
President and CEO, World Monuments Fund
Bénédicte de Montlaur is President and CEO of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the world’s foremost private organization dedicated to saving extraordinary places while empowering the communities around them. She is responsible for defining WMF’s strategic vision, implementing that vision in more than 30 countries around the world, and leading a team that spans the globe. Her background mixes culture and the arts, politics, international diplomacy, and human rights. Prior to joining WMF, de Montlaur spent two decades working across three continents as a senior diplomat at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kateryna Chuyeva
Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and 2022 Watch Award Recipient
Kateryna Chuyeva has served as Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine since September 2021. Her portfolio as the Deputy Minister includes museums and cultural heritage. Previously, Chuyeva has worked in the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts (1998-2021), where from 2018 to 2021 she held the position of Director General. She has also held posts of curator and co-curator of exhibitions, conferences, and other projects at the Khanenko Museum. Chuyeva has been an ICOM Member since 2008 and President of ICOM Ukraine since 2012.
Alexandra Fiebig
Project Manager, International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH)
Alexandra Fiebig joined the Swiss-based foundation in early 2019. Before that, Alexandra worked for nine years at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. At ALIPH, Alexandra works on projects in Afghanistan, North-East Syria and various ALIPH Action Plans such as for the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut, following the 2021 port blast as well as for the past year on the ALIPH Ukraine Action Plan. Alexandra Fiebig holds two Master degrees in History and Modern Languages of University of Oxford, and Arts and Heritage Management from University of Maastricht.
Kateryna Goncharova
Ukraine Heritage Crisis Specialist, World Monuments Fund
Kateryna Goncharova previously served as a Head of the Research Department at the Ukrainian State Research and Project Institute for Historic Preservation; she has been deeply involved in the preservation of architectural heritage and historical sites in Ukraine, including research, management, and scientific support of projects. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Goncharova also conducted research concerning the U.S. experience in historic preservation based on public-private partnership, community engagement, and neighborhood revitalization. She also managed and co-organized numerous projects on integrated urban development, civic participation, and the evaluation of cultural heritage as a resource for strategic development. Kateryna Goncharova holds a Ph.D. in Museum and Monuments Studies from The Center of Monuments Research at the National Academy of Science (NAS) Ukraine and USPHCM.
Milena Chorna
Art historian, expert on the cultural heritage sector at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and Head of the International Exhibitions Department at the War Museum
Milena Chorna is an art historian and cultural heritage expert. She currently serves as Head of the International Exhibitions Department at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (War Museum) and as an expert on the cultural heritage sector at the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. Between March 2022 and January 2023, Milena volunteered for the Museum Crisis Center, as well as occasionally volunteering for the Heritage Emergency Rescue Initiative. Her work has involved monitoring the urgent needs of Ukrainian museum workers in the reclaimed regions of Ukraine and those at the front, providing assistance with packing materials, evacuating people and collections, and securing individual financial help for over 400 museum workers. Milena is a guest lecturer on "Tourism and preservation of cultural heritage" at the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Government. She has authored over 40 scholarly articles and two white papers, and is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. She holds a master’s degree in Journalism and in Art History.
The Ukraine Heritage Response Fund was created with leadership support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. World Monuments Fund would also like to thank the other generous donors who have supported the Fund, including Cultural Emergency Response (CER) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands; the Richard Lounsbery Foundation; Tianaderrah Foundation / Nellie and Robert Gipson; the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation; the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation; the Flora Family Foundation; Christie's, and other supporters.
This event is hosted in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute of America.