Louvre to accept museum exhibits from Ukraine for storage
In early May, the artworks traveled with a military convoy through Poland and Germany
The Louvre is taking 16 works of art, including precious Byzantine icons from Kyiv, for temporary storage to protect them from the war in Ukraine. This was announced on Wednesday by the museum's director.
Source: RFI
"Since the beginning of the war, like other major museum institutions, we have been thinking about how to support our Ukrainian colleagues. In the fall, faced with the height of the conflict, we decided to save Ukrainian works," Laurence de Carse told Agence France-Presse.
"It is a small thing in an ocean of sadness and desolation, but it is a real symbol," she added.
Among these works are five Byzantine icons from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Art in Kyiv. They will be on public display at the Louvre from June 14 to November 6.
Eleven other works, "among the most iconic and fragile," were selected from the Ukrainian museum for scientific cooperation on the restoration of the works and will be placed in the Louvre's reserves.
At the end of October 2022, Laurence de Kars hosted a Ukrainian delegation of museum representatives, including the director of the Khanenko Museum.
The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine registered 468 damaged or destroyed cultural objects, including 35 museums.
As of May 31, UNESCO confirmed that 258 cultural sites have been damaged since the Russian invasion: 111 places of worship, 22 museums, 93 historical and/or artistic buildings, 19 monuments, 12 libraries, and 1 archive.
In early October last year, a rocket fell near the Khanenko Museum, smashing the windows. With the exception of large paintings, the works of art were mostly "moved to reserves where they are exposed to temperature changes and power outages, which is a concern for our Ukrainian colleagues," the Louvre director told France-Presse.
The operation to rescue the 16 selected works, with the financial support of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones, was officially approved during the visit of French Minister of Culture Rome Abdul Malak to Ukraine in February. In early May, the artworks were transported by a military convoy through Poland and Germany.
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