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Ukraine Cultural Heritage Preservation Resources and Aid Organizations

Preservation Resources (In Alphabetical Order):

ALIPH Foundation
(International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas) sponsors a Ukrainian Action Plan which supports projects to protect museums, libraries, and archives by financing the purchase or transport of preservation materials, upgrading storage locations and monitoring heritage sites.

American Alliance of Museums (AAM)
The AAM has posted a list of resources to assist colleagues working in Ukrainian museums.

Art for Ukraine
The program raises money for Ukrainian humanitarian relief through the sale of artworks donated by artists.

 Art Loss Register Cultural Heritage at Risk Database (CHARD)
CHARD registers “at risk” objects of cultural heritage in sensitive areas around the world.  As of January 2023, the ALR has registered over 2,000 artworks and heritage items in Ukraine. 

Art Margins Magazine
This online and print publication has compiled a list of resources and services to scholars, students and artists who have fled the conflict in Ukraine (including fellowships, direct aid & residencies).

Artists at Risk
This is a non-profit organization that collaborates with other arts non-profits and government funders to help artists from 19 different countries who are at risk politically and fleeing oppression. 

 Artists for Ukraine
A group of artists based at the University of Reading (UK), which raises money through the sale of donated artworks to provide food, shelter and humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
 
Backup Ukraine
A collaboration of UNESCO, Blue Shield Denmark and Ukrainian cultural organizations, Backup Ukraine enlists Ukrainian volunteers take photos and 3D scans of historic structures. This data will used to create digital models if the sites are destroyed or damaged.

Blue Sky- Ukrainian Conservation Forum
This initiative connects Ukrainian conservators with the global conservation community to build knowledge and expertise for historic preservation in Ukraine. This is a closed channel on the Telegram messaging platform. Interested participants should join Telegram, then send an email to Mykyta Yavorsky at nikita.yavorskyyy@gmail.com

Committee For Aid to Museums in Ukraine 
Polish organization working to collaborate with Ukrainian museums and curators. The committee is active on their social media sites.

Cultural Emergency Response (CER)
CER helps communities assess risks and damage to cultural property, is assisting in the winterization of damaged historical sites in Ukraine.

Damaged in Ukraine (in Ukrainian)
This is a project of the KSE Institute (Kyiv School of Economics) and the Ukrainian government to document damage to Ukrainian infrastructure, monuments and cultural institutions as evidence for future trials and reparations claims against Russia.

Foundation to Preserve Ukraine’s Sacral Art
The Foundation trains local craftspeople to preserve Ukrainian churches and sacral arts. They are fire extinguishers to protect vulnerable wooden churches in Ukraine. These and other preservation materials are distributed through the Lviv-based Center to Rescue Cultural Heritage.

Heritage Rescue Emergency Initiative (HERI)
HERI seeks to preserve cultural heritage in war zones. Its activities in Ukraine are coordinated with the Ministry of Culture, the Information Police of Ukraine, UNESCO, ICOM and others. It has compiled a list of items currently needed by Ukrainian museums with price estimates to give an overview of the overall budget required to efficiently help Ukrainian museum professionals.

International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC)
IIC has posted a summary of initiatives by partner organizations worldwide to help protect Ukrainian cultural heritage.

Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine (MKIP)
The Ministry of Culture provides information on heritage sites damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. Save Ukrainian Culture details each structure’s cultural significance, the current extent of the damage, and the estimated cost to restore or reconstruct it. Destroyed Cultural Heritage of Ukraine is a multimedia library documenting Russian war crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage.

Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO)
NEMO is recording and monitoring support activities and initiatives—including support on the ground, storage and housing, job offers, donations, educational programs, and exhibitions—organized by European member museums on behalf of their Ukrainian colleagues.

Save the Ukraine Monuments Initiative (SUM)
The SUM initiative has been organized by the European Commission’s 4CH project (European Competence Centre on the Conservation of Cultural Heritage), and is working to digitally document and reconstruct Ukrainian culture and history. 

Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO)
An initiative to find, collect and store all digital cultural materials, archives, libraries, museum collections, etc. in Ukraine at risk from the Russian invasion.  The materials are being uploaded and stored in a special collection available on the Internet Archive which can be accessed here.

Smithsonian Institution Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI) and the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at the Virginia Museum of Natural History
This joint initiative is compiling imagery of Ukraine’s cultural sites to help track attacks to protect them and to document the devastation.

Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund (MOCA)
The Museum of Contemporary Art NGO, in partnership with Zaborona, The Naked Room and Mystetskyi Arsenal, provides support & services to cultural workers in Ukraine, as well as those who have fled abroad.

Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA)
The UNWLA promotes and supports educational and cultural initiatives, and provides humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians worldwide. They are sending medical supplies and other humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

UNESCO
UNESCO's Action for Ukraine- Donations will help UNESCO safeguard heritage sites and other cultural designations in Ukraine. Their website also provides articles and toolkits related to the war in Ukraine and protection of cultural heritage in the region.  

World Monuments Fund
The WMF Ukraine Heritage Response Fund supports Ukrainian heritage professionals and provides supplies necessary to protect Ukrainian heritage sites and support conservation efforts.

Informational Resources (in Alphabetical Order):

Exhibition of Ukrainian Paintings: In the Eye of the Storm, Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930s,Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid (Nov. 29, 2022-April 30, 2023); and Here and Now at Museum Ludwig: Modernism in Ukraine & Darya Koltsova, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (June 3- Sept. 24, 2023).

Harvard University Ukraine Research Institute (HURI)
HURI advances knowledge of Ukraine through research and teaching, particularly in history, language, and literature. They offer a list of resources for Ukrainians, information on the historical background to the Russian invasion, and information on how to help.

Institute for Conservation (ICON)
Publishes a list of initiatives mainly in the UK and Europe that are working to help preserve and care for art and cultural monuments in Ukraine during and after the War.

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)
This intergovernmental organization promotes the conservation of all forms of cultural heritage worldwide. ICCROM has joined with UNESCO and the Maidan Museum of Kyiv to translate the publication Endangered Heritage: Emergency Evacuation of Heritage into Ukrainian.

International Council of Museums (ICOM)
ICOM has published an Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk in Ukraine, which lists 53 types of items (fine art, religious artifacts, folk art, documents, and archaeological objects) at risk of looting and theft.

Russia’s War in Ukraine Collection
Digital archiving project undertaken by the Harvard University Ukraine Research Institute (HURI) and the Slavic Languages Department to preserve digital material related to the war in Ukraine, historical documents and information sources. The Russia’s War in Ukraine Collection is housed at Archiv-It.

Ukraine Cultural Foundation
UCF supports cultural workers remaining in Ukraine; cultural and artistic projects aimed at promoting Ukrainian culture abroad, and assistance for Ukrainian media. The bilingual site includes an interactive map of cultural losses resulting from the Russian invasion.

Ukraine War Art Collection
Sponsored by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, this site lists projects and artworks in all media (including visual arts, music, literature, and the performing arts) by Ukrainian artists which document and respond to the war. 

Organizations Offering Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine (in Alphabetical Order):

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers
The organization is providing medical supplies, conducting emergency medical evacuations and providing mass casualty training to medical personnel and medical assistance in various cities in Ukraine.

International Rescue Committee
The IRC provides food, medical care and emergency support services to Ukrainian refugees in Poland in Ukraine.

RAZOM
Razom Emergency Response provides emergency medical equipment, general medical supplies, and non-medical tactical supplies (communication equipment, drones) to facilitate the delivery of medical aid to Ukraine.

UN High Council for Refugees (UNHCR)
UNHCR is distributing emergency supply kits to refugees, offering emergency cash assistance, and providing temporary shelter. 

UN World Food Program (WFP)
The WFP has launched an emergency operation to provide food assistance for people displaced within Ukraine and refugees in neighboring countries.

UNICEF
UNICEF works with partner organizations to provide medical and other humanitarian aid and services – health, education, shelter, and sanitation—to displaced Ukrainian children & families.

World Central Kitchen
As of February 2023, WCK’s Chefs for Ukraine initiative has provided over 200 million meals to people in Ukraine and to Ukrainian refugees abroad. They also provide food product deliveries to their restaurant partners throughout Ukraine.