Performance report 2025

1. In the evening of January 21st, 2025, the historical center of Odesa has suffered damage from the russian airstrike. As a result, 19 architectural monuments were damaged, among which there are 4 cultural institutions: The State Archive, West and East Art Museum, the branch of Odesa Literature Museum, and Odesa Philharmonic Theatre named after David Oistrakh.

We started the urgent elimination of the consequences of the enemy attack. Thanks to the support of the ALIPH Foundation, we managed to carry out work on the rescue and preservation of cultural heritage sites that were in the firing zone.
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• One of the damaged objects was a branch of the Odesa Literature Museum. We carried out safe transfers of sculptures, antique furniture, and other pieces that were kept there. They were transported to the main building of the Odesa Literature Museum for further keeping. In addition, we have installed OSB-panels on the windows and carried out urgent evacuation matters in the building in order to save the pieces that have been kept inside.
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• As a result of the russian shelling, the building of Odesa Philharmonic Theatre has also been damaged. From December 2023, it was in the list of International cultural heritage sites that were under the protection of UNESCO. During the shelling, the theatre building suffered significant damages: the authentic doors of the main entrance were blown out by the blast wave, the large stained glass windows, and the inside of the building was damaged. We were the main organizers of the rescue operation.
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• During the first few days after the attack, there were specialists working to document the consequences. After this, the museum workers, along with the restorers and the stained glass experts were helping to gather the broken pieces of the damaged stained glass. The pieces were sorted and put in different boxes for the future restoration. The windows were also closed with the OSB-panels.

• During the russian attack the building of the former Porto-Franco Bank was heavily damaged. The significant parts of the windows and stained glass were blown out by the blast wave. We have installed OSB-panels on the damaged windows to stabilize the building.

• The building of the Brodsky Synagogue, where the State Archive of Odesa oblast is currently located, is currently in unacceptable technical condition not only because of the shellings, but also because of the absence of restoration works. We conducted the technical examination of the building and the adjacent territory in order to identify the damages done by the blast waves to this already damaged building.

2. This year we continued to help with the evacuations of museum collections in the regions that are adjacent to the battlefield.

In September 2025 russian soldiers were getting close to the city of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region. The director of the Slavyansk Regional History Museum made a decision to evacuate all the pieces that were left in the museum. We paid for the suitable packing of the collection to ensure its safety during the transportation. There was a stained glass window in the museum. To properly remove it, we got in touch with the stained glass specialists from “CORPUS VITREARUM DEUTSCHLAND” in Germany. We have also paid for the freight  and transportation services during the evacuation.

Along with carrying out this project, we have also paid for making custom boxes in Okhtyrka Regional History Museum in Sumy region. They were needed to carry out the evacuation safely. We also paid for the packaging materials for Sumy Art Museum and for the services needed to prepare the museum collection for evacuation.

3. До нас продовжують вже котрий рік звертатись музеї Харківщини з проханням допомогти зі збереженням колекцій. Ми посилили команди 12 музеїв в евакуації їх колекцій до більш безпечних місць. Профінансували необхідні матеріали, логістику та роботу з виготовлення ящиків. Також ми сплатили за транспортування всіх евакуйованих предметів до нових місць зберігання.

4. This year the “Mobile digitalization lab” project was launched. It is financed by the Cultural Emergency Response. Today Ukrainian museums must digitize their collections and enter them into the The Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine. Unfortunately, a lot of museums lack the teams and resources to manage this.

For this project we have the goal to digitize 10 000 pieces from the collections of 10 museums in Odesa and Odesa region. 

As of December 2025 along the museum teams we have digitized and entered into the registry:

• 1002 pieces pieces from the collection of the Izmail Military Historical Museum Complex, 500 are already in the Register;

• 1000 pieces from the collection of the Izmail Historical and Local History Museum of the Danube Region, 682 are already in the Register;

• 1000 items items from the collection of the Artsyz Historical and Local History Museum, all 1000 are already in the Register;

• 991 items from the collection of the Kodym Historical and Local History Museum, 756 are already in the Register;

• 969 items from the collection of the Baltic Historical Museum, 839 are already in the Register;

• 825 items from the collection of the Odesa State Historical and Local History Museum, all of them are already in the Register;

• 727 items from the collection of the Odesa Museum of the Navy. 

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5. This year we have started working with the new for us organisation — J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Thanks to their support we have carried out the digitalization of the museums in Odesa. The digitized pieces were also entered into The Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine.

During this project were digitized:

• 7612 items from the collection of the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum;

• 6000 items of the highest priority from the collection of the Odesa Archaeological Museum;

• 3000 items from the collection of the Odesa Municipal Museum of Personal Collections named after O.V. Bleschunov.

In 2026 we are planning to carry on helping the Ukrainian cultural institutions with the digitalization of their collections. We are actively searching for new opportunities for providing support for this process!

6. We have helped to arrange new premises for the Central State Scientific and Technical Archive of Ukraine in Kharkiv. In this archive there are preserved important documents related to the national technical and scientific developments. There are almost 700k storage units and the new ones are expected to arrive in the near future. We have helped the archive team to arrange new premises: paid for the new materials for the fire alarm systems, video surveillance, and replacement of the cables in archive rooms. We have also purchased lamps and doors.

7. For the proper arrival and safekeeping of evacuated collections, we have arranged the premises with an area of 251 square meters in one of the Western regions of Ukraine. All the renovations were carried out in compliance with all temperature and humidity standards.

8. From the 7th of October to the 25th of October we have carried out the training course “Heritage Guardians”. There were 7 lectures online and 2 days of practical training on-site in the Odesa National Fine Arts Museum. The main goal of this course was to create a group of volunteers that could arrive at the heritage sites damaged after airstrikes and provide support in saving the pieces.In the museum hall the ruinations were recreated, among the debris and household items there were pieces of cultural heritage. The participants had the opportunity to learn how to differentiate items that are in need of urgent help. They have also learnt how to save the cultural heritage items without damaging them.This training course was launched by Museum for Change in partnership with ACURE and HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab with the financial support of Cultural Emergency Response within the Black Sea Regional Hub project.

9. Business trips of the Director of MFC, Daria Diakova, are playing an important role in strengthening the diplomatic component of our work. We often work with the grantors and cultural institutions not only in Ukraine but also abroad. In order to search for new partners and improve the visibility of Ukrainian cultural heritage around the world, Daria Diakova attended international conferences, training courses, and other events. In addition, for better understanding of the situation in Ukrainian cultural institutions we visit them personally. This way we can provide the most effective support to them.

About the most vibrant and important business trips:

• In March 2025 Daria Diakova was invited to take part in the international exchange programme “Open World” in the USA. The program was focused on the topics of resilience and expansions of the communities during the wartime, and also on the preservation of cultural heritage. The exchange programme was in Washington D.C., Columbia district and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• Daria Diakova took part in the Leadership Summit for Cultural Heritage Stewards 2025 in The Hague, the Netherlands. This event was organized by our patnters – Cultural Emergency Response (CER) and Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. The program included a discussion of the key challenges facing the field of cultural heritage preservation today.

• Daria Diakova was among the 10 specialists that took part in the international exchange program dedicated to protection and preservation of cultural heritage facing modern challenges. The event was in Paris, France. The most memorable event was the colloquium in the Louvre. Its topic was «Solidarity and cooperation at the local, national and international levels: difficulties, challenges, prospects», where Daria talked about Museum for Change, fundraising, and the work of Ukrainian museums during war. 

In 2025 the Museum for Change team was in more than 25 business trips in Ukraine and abroad!

We are immensely grateful to our Ukrainian and international partners for their support and faith. Together we will continue to work towards carrying out our mission – preserving the cultural heritage of Ukraine!