Yulia Vaganova became a laureate of the Laurentum Prize for saving cultural heritage

Director of the Khanenko Museum Yulia Vaganova became laureate of Italian Laurentum Prize for saving cultural heritage. The Laurentum Prize is one of the most important in the field of culture in Italy and was created by the cultural center of the same name based in Rome. Yulia Vaganova became the first laureate of the 2023 newly established Save the Cultural Heritage category.

Representatives of the Laurentum prize noted that the Save the Cultural Heritage category “symbolizes the collective commitment to saving the irreplaceable and pays tribute to the courage, resilience and relentless effort to preserve the tangible and intangible heritage of the past, present and future that is threatened by conflict and natural disasters.”

The awarding ceremony took place on Dec. 15 in the Royal Room of the Chamber of Deputies of Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome.

Yulia Vaganova is Ukrainian art historian. She worked at the Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, then at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre and Mystetskyi Arsenal.

Commenting on the award, Vaganova emphasized that this award is not her personal achievement, but an institutional one. According to her, the award belongs to the Khanenko Museum as an institution.

According to the Khanenko Museum (formal title: The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts) official website, it is the key world art museum in Ukraine. It presents the most significant Ukrainian collections of Western European, Asian and ancient art. The core of the museum holdings is made up by the private collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko, who were renowned Ukrainian collectors of art and philanthropists of the late 19th – the early 20th centuries. One of the two main museum buildings is the Khanenko mansion, a unique monument of history and architecture. Built in the late 19th century, the house retains the extraordinary spirit of the past. Its facade and interiors are designed in the “historicism” style implying the mixture of various historic features: gothic, Renaissance, baroque, rococo.

In addition to the Laurentum award, the Khanenko Museum was also shortlisted for the European Museum of the Year (EMYA) award. This award was established in 1977 by the Council of Europe to recognize excellence in the European museum scene. 50 European museums have been nominated for the award this year. In addition to the Khanenko Museum, a memorial complex the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War was nominated as well. The winner will be announced on the last day of the EMYA annual conference on May 1, 2024.

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Sources: LB, Il Messaggero
Main image: Museum Facebook page
Images: Davide Fracassi/Ag.Toiati