Branch Head:
Olena Oleksandrivna Lodzynska
Phone:
380 (44) 234-12-04
Email:
museum60@ukr.net
Year of Establishment:
2012
Address:
33A Oles Honchar Street, Kyiv
Scope of Activities:
History, Literature, Art
Opening Hours:
The Museum of the Sixties, a branch of the Museum of Kyiv History, was established on the initiative of a public organization of the same name. The core of its collection consists of the private archives of Ukrainian Sixties and participants of the resistance movement against Soviet totalitarianism in the 1970s–1980s.
The exhibition features artworks by talented and distinctive artists (painting, graphics, sculpture, ex libris, appliqué, posters), “samizdat” (self published) materials, a thematic library (Ukrainian and international editions), manuscripts, unique photographs and documents, as well as personal belongings of the Sixties — including items they created while in imprisonment.
In total, the collection contains up to 30,000 objects of museum value.
The museum researches and presents the phenomenon of the Ukrainian Sixties as an essential part of Ukraine’s national liberation struggle in the 20th century.
The range of themes presented in the exhibition is exceptionally rich. These include the historical prerequisites, the socio-historical atmosphere in Ukraine in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the periodization and differentiated characteristics of various groups of the Sixties; literature about the Sixties (both contemporary in Ukraine and in the diaspora); modern perspectives on the Sixties (documents, articles, publications); the activities of the Clubs of Creative Youth (Kyiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Odesa); youth literary and artistic associations; “samizdat”, artworks, political and journalistic materials, reprints published in the West; the literary heritage of the Sixties; the significance of the diaspora; individuals and organizations that disseminated their work; the resistance movement in Ukraine of the 1960s–1980s; the activities of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and its destruction, as well as the activities of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union in the 1980s (which later transformed into the Ukrainian Republican Party); materials from court cases against the Sixties; imprisonment in jails, psychiatric hospitals, labor camps, and exile; the connection with the broader Soviet dissident movement, including Lithuanian, Latvian, Jewish, Russian, and other dissidents (such as V. Nekrasov, H. Halych, B. Okudzhava, I. Ratushynska, N. Sadūnaitė); the wives of political prisoners; repressions against those who supported and shared the Sixties’ ideas; Sixties who were artists, musicians, and figures of theater and cinema; the significance of the Sixties in the social renewal of the 1980s–1990s, in the struggle against the USSR, and in the building of the Ukrainian State.
The museum’s exhibition is built upon original documents and photographs of the Sixties, memorial belongings of the movement’s protagonists, and highly artistic works by renowned creators. It is impossible to imagine raising a generation of patriots of our country without the poetry of Vasyl Symonenko, Lina Kostenko, and Vasyl Stus. Nothing compares to the powerful graphics of Alla Horska, the historically themed artistic ceramics, the deeply philosophical graphics and paintings of Halyna Sevruk, as well as the artworks of Opanas Zalyvakha, Veniamin Kushnir, and others.
The museum regularly organizes thematic photo-documentary and art exhibitions, literary and musical evenings, book presentations (including works by contemporary Ukrainian artists), and meetings with living heroes of the Sixties’ resistance movement. In addition to the general tour, the museum also offers thematic tours (literary or artistic), which require prior registration. From May to November, the museum conducts a walking tour through the city center titled “Kyiv of the Ukrainian Sixties.”
Martial Law
Since May 2022, the museum has been adapted to wartime conditions. The main collections of artworks, valuable items, and documents are currently not accessible for viewing; however, the staff will offer alternative exhibitions that allow visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of Ukrainian life in the 1960s.
