Arte e Cultura
Babyn Yar Unveils Plans for New Memorial Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January
The buildings which will be erected as part of the complex include: A museum to commemorate the Babyn Yar massacre; a museum to commemorate the Holocaust of Ukrainian and Eastern European Jewry as a whole; a structure depicting the names of the victims; a religious/spiritual center including a synagogue, church and mosque; an educational and scientific research center; a multi-media center; a learning and recreational space for children; an information and conference center and more. The very first synagogue at the site, plus an additional exhibition space are scheduled to be completed this year, ahead of the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, which will be commemorated in September.
Plans for the museum complex are being formulated by Ilya Khrzhanovsky, BYHMC's Artistic Director, in cooperation with international experts in museum development, including: - Head of the architectural design department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam ; - Professor at the University of Waterloo , who chaired the working group which created the master plan for the future Auschwitz Museum; – Chief Curator of Architecture and Digital Initiatives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Professor at Columbia University ; - Head of the MPhil/PhD Architecture Program at London's Royal College of Art; – Urban planning expert and Professor of Architecture and Interior Design at the Peter Behrens School of Art in Düsseldorf (DE) and – A designer and museographer, who has designed several prestigious museums, such as the Louvre-Lens in France (2012) and the Cairo Islamic Art Museum in Egypt (2010); – An internationally acclaimed pioneer of performance art, who is also a writer and filmmaker. The team also includes talented young Ukrainian experts in various fields. – Architect and 3D model developer; – Director of the BYHMC Names Project; – Head Manager of the BYHMC library and publishing project and – Head Manager of the BYHMC Architectural and Design Department.
In September 2020 , Ukraine's government represented by the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko , under the auspices of the President of Ukraine , Volodymyr Zelensky , signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with BYHMC, represented by Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder , to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the Babyn Yar tragedy.
Last month BYHMC presented its plans for the Memorial Center to President Zelensky and the Minister of Culture. The President welcomed the plans and instructed the Minister of Culture to promote the opening of a synagogue and an additional exhibition space in the complex during this year, which marks eighty years since the Babyn Yar massacre. Doing so during this eightieth anniversary year, will enable residents of the Ukraine and visitors from all over the world to see, touch and feel the horror which took place there and was subsequently silenced.
Ilya Khrzhanovsky and his team of international experts presented its concept for the Memorial Center to the Supervisory Board of BYHMC. The Supervisory Board, comprised of eminent international figures, enthusiastically welcomed the plans.
Underscoring the need for such a memorial, a recent survey in Ukraine , conducted to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, revealed that 68 per cent of respondents believe the memory of twentieth century genocides such as the Holocaust is fading. Meanwhile, just 16 per cent of respondents knew that more than one million Jews were shot dead near their homes during the Holocaust.
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BYHMC is already operating a series of research and education programs. Through the Center's work, around 20,000 previously unknown names of massacre victims have been uncovered and verified. Meanwhile, scientific research at the Center has been completed to determine for the first time exactly where the shootings took place in the Babyn Yar Forest. In addition, educational programs have been built together with Yad Vashem and a number of new memorial structures have been erected in the area.
The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre https://babynyar.org/en/ is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. A series of commemorations during 2021 will mark the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1425846/Babi_Yar_Zelensky.jpg