The National Complex “Expocenter of Ukraine” (formerly known as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, or VDNKh for short) has announced a competition to research the history and concept of VDNKh as a Soviet ideological space. This work will become the basis for creating the Museum of Monumental Propaganda on the territory of VDNKh.
This is stated on the VDNKh website.
The idea of creating such a museum arose in 2016. Since 2014, Ukraine has been undergoing decommunization, and the process of decolonization has been actively unfolding since 2022. At the same time, back in 2008, 19 of the Expocenter’s facilities were included in the State Register of Immovable Monuments as a complex monument of architecture and urban planning of local significance. In 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers changed its status to national.
“The study of the Soviet history of VDNKh and the creation of the Museum of Monumental Propaganda will help combine the heritage’s protection with its rethinking. After all, the Soviet history of the complex is embedded in its architecture: pavilions, buildings, and symbols are already part of the future exposition,” the statement said.
In addition, these monuments were not altered during the Soviet period and were initially designed as such. That is why VDNKh is a logical place for a museum, according to Expocenter.
The competition is open to experts with experience in working with cultural heritage, as well as researchers and curators who already have experience creating visual and analytical projects on Soviet-era culture and art.
