On August 30, Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”, with the assistance of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, opened a temporary photo exhibition called “UKRAINIAN SHTETL. RETURN TO PLACES OF POWER.” The project was created with the financial support of the Jewish Cultural Center “Beit Dan” (Kharkiv) with the assistance of the Center for Jewish Studies at Fordham University in New York, the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, the Eastern Regional Scientific and Artistic Center of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Association of Judaica.

The Director of the Museum, Dr. Iryna Radchenko, welcomed the participants of the event and introduced the author of the exhibition – Professor Yevhen Kotlyar, an art historian, corresponding member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine and the Chairman of the Academic Council of the Ukrainian Association of Judaica, who personally came for the presentation. He noted that this photo project is about the search for meaning, memory and roots. About disappearing places and how photography can preserve the silence of the past. Yevhen Kotlyar spoke about the history of the creation of the exhibition, which consists of more than twenty photographs and photomontages created based on the materials of his trips to the former Jewish towns of Ukraine for more than twenty years.

The presentation of stylized black-and-white photographs – a kind of poetic collages that combine history, memories, nostalgia and the present – ​​was accompanied by amazing melodies with traditional Yiddish music motifs. The musical component performed by Adel Kontorowicz – a violinist, vocalist and member of the Gos_orchestra symphony orchestra, complemented the soulful atmosphere of Yiddish kaitu that prevailed within the walls of the Museum.

The exhibition will be on display at the Museum until October 14, 2026. We invite visitors to get acquainted with the unique photo project, discover the lost world of Jewish towns in Ukraine, and feel how history comes to life in the frame. You can visit the exhibition on Wednesdays and Sundays, from 10:00 to 18:00.