“We must look to the army […]as a form of immense pride and invaluable protection for the state and nation, which is imbued with high self-worth and democratic values. This attitude should be sincere, serious, and work towards social as well as national goals; not for aggression or fear, but for conscience. The contribution of a few precious years of obligatory service should be viewed as a special honor which fulfills the highest public duty in defending our nation’s legacy, even if it means giving one’s life for our country!”
Mykhailo Hrushevsky. On the Threshold of the New UkraineKyiv, 1918
With the aim to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, the Bogdan Gubsky Foundation “Ukraine – 21st Century” together with the National Museum of History of Ukraine during WWII organized a large-scale international exhibition: “Forever Free Ukraine!”.
The Opening Ceremony took place on August 20, 2021. 20 museum institutions, archives and libraries from Ukraine and the United States participated in the project.
The uniqueness of the exhibition was noted by Ivan Kovalchuk General Director of the organizing Museum:
“This exhibition not only tells us about the Ukrainian Army’s uniforms during the Liberation Struggle of 1917-1921, it illustrates the challenges of the national state-building process; it reflects the Ukrainian Army’s traditions and introduces biographies of its prominent representatives. Ultimately, the exhibition is about unity of Ukraine – in the past, present and future”
Bogdan Gubsky has stated that the Exhibition aims to establish strong historical connection between the defenders of Ukraine today and those who participated in the Liberation Struggles of 1917–1921, by presenting the history of the Ukrainian Army’s uniform of the early 20th century. He has added that this unique museum project is an implemented attempt to strengthen collaboration ties with leading Ukrainian cultural institutions in the U.S. via cultural diplomacy means.
“By using museum means, the creatorts aimed to honor the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the key guarantor of the state independence, which became especially relevant today, when Ukraine is at war,”
said Bogdan Gubsky, Chairman of the Foundation.
“This exhibition is an example of unique collaboration between the Ukrainian State, and public and church institutions in the name of preserving our national memory. I encourage every one who comes to Kyiv these days to visit it,“
said Patriarch Sviatoslav, Head of the UGCC in his speech at the Opening Ceremony.
The curator of the exhibition is Dr.Yuriy Savchuk, a Fulbright scholar (2019-2020), and the Exhibition Designer – Volodymyr Taran.
Yurii Savchuck, Exhibition curator, led the first tour around the exhibition to the guests.
The Ukrainian-American exhibition project entitled “Forever Free Ukraine!” features unique artifacts from 20 museum, archive and library institutions from Ukraine as well as the United States. It explores the impressive and little-known pages of the Liberation Struggle for independence from 1917–1921, in particular, the history of the Ukrainian Army’s uniform of the early 20th century.
250 artifacts covering the period of 1914–1923 focus on the history of the Ukrainian Army’s uniform from the period of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, the Ukrainian Central Rada, the Ukrainian National Republic, the Western Ukrainian National Republic, Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky’s reign, and the Directiory of the Ukrainian National Republic. Most of the objects are unknown to the general public, and are familiar to only a narrow circle of specialists.
Among the rarities are uniforms, awards, flags, military decorations of the Ukrainian military formations during the Liberation Struggle, in particular the colonel of the SSS, Wilhelm Franz Joseph Karl von Habsburg-Lorraine, also known as Wilhelm Franz of Austria and by the pseudonym, Vasyl Vyshyvanyi (1895–1948), General Oleksandr Zagrodsky, Sviatoslav Shramchenko (1893–1958), Lieutenant Captain of the Ukrainian State Navy.
The Album of the Uniforms of Ukrainian Army and Navy for the Period of Liberation Struggle of 1917–1921, is one of the largest and most important works rendered by the famous heraldist Mykola Bytynsky.
The album, which originally included 186 watercolor images of the Ukrainian Army’s uniform, was created over several years and completed in Prague on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the revival of the Ukrainian armed forces, in 1937. This exhibition is the world premiere of this unique art monument.
Ultimately, the exhibition aimed to illustrate the strong historical connection between today’s generation of defenders of Ukraine with the participants of the Liberation Struggle (1917–1921) by honoring the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the key guarantor of the state independence. This topic is very relevance for the country at war, in the year of its 30th anniversary of independent state development.
For the first time in Ukraine – U.S. bilateral relations 5 leading scientific, museum and cultural-educational Ukrainian institutions in the U.S. take part and help curate: the Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford, the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago, the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UVAN), the Ukrainian Museum in New York, and the Ukrainian Museum of New Jersey in Memory of Patriarch Mstislav I.
In total, over 180 unique artifacts from the U.S. are being temporarily exhibited in Ukraine, most of which have never been made public and will be presented in Ukraine for the first time. The Ukrainian side features unique exhibits from 16 local museums, libraries and archives.
The exhibition has become a key event on the celebration program of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, as well as in everyday life of Ukrainians and the international community who visited Kyiv. For more than 30,000 visitors the exhibition has served as an educational platform that teaches, inspires and promotes understanding between different generations, professionals and nationalities.
On February 24, 2022, the exhibition witnessed the Russian full-scale invasion in Kyiv. It was closed, and all the exhibits were evacuated.
However, its story is not over. As of September 2022, the exhibition reopened in Lithuania in the city of Kaunas, the European Capital of Culture 2022, at Vytautas the Great Military Museum (Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus)
More information on the exhibition, its opening ceremony, participants and partners is here:
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/publications/forever-free-ukraine/
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/projects/za-volyu-ukrayiny/
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/projects/za-volyu-ukrayiny-ekspozytsiia/
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/publications/in-kyiv-with-the-aim-to-celebrate-the-30th-anniversary-of-ukraine-s-independence-a-large-scale-international-exhibition-forever-free-ukraine/
https://ukraine-21century.com/publications/radioprohrama-muzeynymy-stezhkamy-z-rozpoviddiu-pro-vystavku-za-voliu-ukrainy/
https://www.facebook.com/UkrainianNationalMuseum/posts/4723221144356052
https://ukraine-21century.com/publications/blyzko-10-ty-tysiach-vidviduvachiv-ta-60-ekskursiy/
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/publications/exhibition-forever-free-ukraine-serves-as-international-educational-platform/
https://ukraine-21century.com/en/publications/honorable-delegation-from-sweden-came-to-kyiv/
https://ukraine-21century.com/publications/kashket-habsburga-ta-orden-zymovoho-pokhodu-u-kyievi-demonstruiut-istoriiu-ukrainskoho-viyska/