Google Arts&Culture introduce section on Ukraine

Ukraine’s Government portal announced the collaboration.

Ukraine is here is a cultural project that will function on the Google Arts & Culture platform. On November 24, it was presented by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The project was implemented due to the partnership between Google and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, with the participation of 10 Ukrainian cultural institutions, including: the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the National Center of Folk Culture “Ivan Honchar Museum”, the Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, etc.

Ukrainian culture is represented by four sections: Culture, Architecture, Art and Nature.

Now, the world community has the opportunity to explore unique and interactive stories about Ukraine, visit virtual tours and see the works of outstanding Ukrainian artists in 6 virtual exhibition spaces.

With the help of virtual reality, it was possible to see St. Sophia Cathedral, Palanok Castle and the National Opera of Ukraine in 3D. 40 other models are also available, including those objects that were damaged or destroyed by enemy fire, such as the bell tower of the Dormition Cathedral in Kharkiv.

“Ukrainian seasonal folk rites and holiday traditions, Ukrainian traditional cuisine, Easter Egg making, folk songs, crafts, fascinating landscapes, biosphere reserves and much more – “Ukraine is Here” anywhere in the world!” the announcement reads.

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska emphasized the importance of preserving cultural memory, which is under threat of Russian shelling.

“During the months of the war, we have more than 500 damaged or destroyed museums, historical buildings, and temples. All this was created by generations of Ukrainians for new generations. So, it immediately became clear that we need to save not only our people, but also our culture and art from the invasion. Our culture is not only ours. This is the heritage of the entire civilized world. When one country loses cultural values, the whole world loses them too. So let’s save, multiply, watch and admire – google Ukrainian culture – and, thus, enrich the world,” called on First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.

Background information: Google Arts & Culture is a project providing digital versions of art works and cultural objects from more than 2,000 institutions in 80 countries. The platform represents 6 million artifacts (including photography, videos, manuscripts, and other documents of art, culture, and history), more than 400,000 works of art, and more than 10,000 digital exhibitions.