[Aaus-community-list] [aaus-list] update on the fate of Lavra Museums

[Chernetsky, Vitaly A. Dr.]

Dear Colleagues,

Following up on the discussion we had at the AAUS meeting in Los Angeles at the ASEES convention this Friday regarding the fate of Lavra museums in Kyiv, I am writing with a factual update on the current situation. According to several sources the possible eviction of museums has been postponed. The museums whose eviction is being considered are these 3 plus 3 other museums not named in news sources and the roughly 30 artists' studios. The 3 named museums are:

Museum of Folk Art
Museum of Theatre, Music, and Film
Museum of Book History and Printing (Muzei knyhy i drukarstva)

The first two museum collections supposedly would remain intact, while the Museum of Book History and Printing is in danger of having its collection broken up and a new museum on the Lavra territory that would focus ONLY on the history of religious book printing, with all secular content purged from it (which looks like a clear violation of the separation of church and state, as the museum is to remain under state jurisdiction).

Here are some news items, in English and Ukrainian, pertaining to this:

http://www.day.kiev.ua/317040
http://www.day.kiev.ua/316928/
http://www.unian.net/ukr/news/news-406519.html

Still, as Patriarch of Moscow arrived in Kyiv earlier today, there may as yet be unexpected developments in the next few days. One disturbing possibility is that a new Moscow Patriarchate structure might be built on the foundation of the old Desiatynna Church, destroying the archeological dig of its foundations.

Here is an earlier item from Ukrajins'ka pravda:

http://kiev.pravda.com.ua/publications/4cd81c04a8644/

I'll be back in touch shortly with more news. The current developments give us a little breathing room to formulate our response, but it is still no time for complacency.

Thank you so much once again for all your input and help.

Best wishes,

Vitaly Chernetsky
AAUS President

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Dr. Vitaly Chernetsky
Associate Professor
Dept. of German, Russian & East Asian Languages
Director, Film Studies Program
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
tel. (513) 529-2515
fax (513) 529-2296
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