An exposition titled Attributes of the Hetman’s Office and Personal Belongings of Bohdan Khmelnytsky was opened at Chyhyryn on April 17. Courtesy of the 21st Century Ukraine Intellectual Cooperation Fund (ICF), unique articles from museum expositions in Sweden, Poland, and Russia had been brought to that small provincial town in Cherkasy oblast (once the famous capital of the Hetmanate).
The project “Knowing the Past for the Sake of the Future” was started by ICF last fall when the Chyhyryn national historical reserve received ten Cossack etchings donated by the noted Ukrainian painter Oleksandr Danchenko. At the time ICF president and MP Bohdan Hubsky promised that before long Ukrainian lovers of history and culture would see certain personal belongings of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, including the hetman’s standard (property of the Stockholm Military Museum), mace (Polish Military Museum in Warsaw), saber (Czartoryiski Ducal Foundation, Krakow), communion cup (Moscow History Museum), and several others.
“Honestly, I thought it was all just words, part of the election campaign,” says Vasyl Poltavets, director of the national historical preserve. “So many others would promise us whole mountains of gold and nothing would happen. Bohdan Hubsky proved true to his word.”
“Early this year task forces of researchers were dispatched to the countries concerned,” says Minister of Culture Yuri Bohutsky. “Talks were completed in record time. The project was supported at the highest level, personally by President Kuchma. ICF bore most of the expenses, including the heaviest clause, insurance.”
“The communion cup’s nominal value is some $180,000,” The Day was told by Tatyana Sizova, research fellow with the Russian History Museum. “I brought it to Ukraine by air, as hand luggage, and was worried a great deal all the way, because the cup’s actual cost is considerably higher than stated. At our museum, it is part of a standing exposition, along with other rarities such as Dmitry Pozharsky’s saber and religious articles used in the liturgy, former property of Prince Vassily Golitsyn, a noted Russian statesman.”
“The articles on display at Chyhyryn have more than historical value,” Bohdan Hubsky said in his address. “They also have a great spiritual worth, they are part of the historical memory of generations, without which a civilized nation cannot exist. Everything done by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, as a politician and diplomat, cannot be overestimated in the context of modern state construction. His experience must be lifted from the dusty shelves of history and utilized by the modern political elite of Ukraine, by the Ukrainian public and youth.”
The foreign exhibit will stay in Ukraine for six months. From Chyhyryn the exposition is likely to be transferred to Kyiv and Lviv museums. After that, as agreed between the parties, the historic articles will be returned to Sweden, Poland, and Russia. When asked by The Day how Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s saber would feel in his hand, Bohdan Hubsky replied:
“I haven’t touched these priceless objects as a matter of principle. I haven’t touched the saber, either, although I wanted to, very much. I think I will after these rarities are returned to Ukraine.”
The Day: Is there hope?
Hubsky: As president of ICF and peoples’ deputy from Cherkasy, I assure you that I will make every effort to restore the historical memories of Taras Shevchenko and Bohdan Khmelnytsky, including the return of Ukrainian rarities to the historical homeland.
