Opening of the exhibition “The Armenian Cathedral in Lviv and its Creators” in Kyiv

On 24 March, the opening of the exhibition “The Armenian Cathedral in Lviv and its Creators” will take place at the “Chlibnia” Gallery in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv. First organised in 2015 by the International Cultural Centre, the exhibition – which has visited 17 venues in Poland and 4 in Armenia – will this time travel to Ukraine and be presented in an Ukrainian-English version. The exhibition will be accompanied by the fourth edition of the book of the same title.

The exhibition “The Armenian Cathedral in Lviv and its Creators” was initiated by members of the Heritage Academy Alumni Association (postgraduate studies coordinated by the ICC and the University of Economics in Kraków since 2001), which is committed to the protection of Polish heritage abroad. The conservation of Jan Henryk Rosen’s murals was one of the Association’s most important projects, carried out on the initiative of its president, Paweł Baranowski, in cooperation with the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad POLONIKA, with whom the current version of the exhibition was prepared, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The history and uniqueness of the Armenian Cathedral

Agata Wąsowska-Pawlik, Director of the International Cultural Centre, emphasises the significance of the exhibition and the latest edition of the publication on the Armenian Cathedral for raising awareness of Ukrainian history and art, but also for our relations and cooperation: “This is driven not only by a desire to help and work towards the empowerment of Ukrainian culture, but also by the concept of >>our shared heritage<<, which is important to us”. Katarzyna Sokołowska, Director of the Polonika Institute, emphasizes that the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv is not merely a historical monument: “(…) it is a living record of the meeting of cultures, where art becomes a language of understanding that transcends divisions. Within its walls, Armenian, Polish and Ukrainian traditions intertwine and every layer of the architecture and decoration tells a different story”.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv is situated in the heart of a multi-faith and multicultural city. Its oldest section dates back to the second half of the 16th century. In the 20th century, it acquired a new modernist design. It was then that the monumental polychromes by Jan Henryk Rosen and the impressive mosaic ensemble by Józef Mehoffer were created. The cathedral fell into disrepair for many years, having been converted into a paintings warehouse after the war. In 2001, it was restored for worship and steps were taken to restore it to its former glory. Since 2008, Polish and Ukrainian conservators, under the supervision of Prof. Joanna Chernichowska and Paweł Baranowski, have been carrying out complex conservation work. The conservation project also included the largest existing set of Mehoffer’s mosaics and Rosen’s paintings. The conservation work is the result of collaboration between Polish and Ukrainian experts – from Kraków (ICC, SAAD), Warsaw (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Polonika, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) and Lviv (a team of Ukrainian specialists working on site).

Exhibition prepared by the ICC

Following the completion of conservation work in the nave of the cathedral in 2015, the ICC team decided to jointly prepare a presentation of the results. The exhibition concept was developed by ICC staff members Dr Michał Wiśniewski and Ewa Wojtoń, who invited Dr Joanna Wolańska, author of a scholarly study on the cathedral; Dr Żanna Komar, an expert on the architectural history of Lviv from the ICC’s Institute of European Heritage; and Paweł Baranowski, the lead conservator on the cathedral project, to collaborate on the project.

The exhibition “The Armenian Cathedral in Lviv and its Creators” takes the form of display panels and spatial reconstructions, accompanied by multimedia materials. The exhibition is supplemented by information explaining the historical and cultural context of Lviv’s Armenian community and the development of multicultural Lviv. An additional element is information on the conservation work carried out in the cathedral since 2008 by the Heritage Academy Alumni Association.