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At Rouen, a Cultural Forum has been established to shed light on the the cultural heritage of Ukraine. First lecture or forum focus on the first Christian buildings in Kyiv

In AD 987, the ruler (king) of Kyivan Rus’, Vladimir the Great, stroke a deal with the Byzantine Emperor, Basil II. Vladimir delivered a contingent of a Varangian (Viking) soldiers and recieved as payment, Anna Porphyrogenita, a fullblooded “purple princess. This contract led to Vladimir’s conversion to Orthodox Christianity, and a series of magnificent cathedrals built in the palace compound of Kyiv. Recent studies, however, have shown that the earliest palace-buildings in Kyiv were erected during the life of the earliest convert, Vladimir’s grandmother, Olga between 955-59. She is famous for her conversion and the compound will have held a church of some sort.

As Ukraine is under invasion, the the Réunion des Musées Métropolitains Rouen Normandie (RMM) and the National Institute of Art History (INHA), supported by the Louvre Museum, the Center Pompidou, the Musée d’Orsay , the National Library of France (BnF), the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Mucem), ICOM France, the Ecole du Louvre, the French Committee for Art History (CFHA) , the General Association of Curators of Public Collections in France (AGCCPF), the Associations of Friends of Museums (AMAR, AMMD), the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) Normandy, are taking the initiative to open a cultural forum to bring to life the Ukrainian culture and heritage under threat.

Every Wednesday programmes on the arts, history, and heritage of Ukraine will be held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen. Some will be reprised at the INHA. Each meeting will be recorded and put online, thus creating an audiovisual collection accessible to all French-speaking audiences, which will offer access to what Ukraine has most preciously given to humanity.

The first programme in the conference is: ‘The first Christian buildings of Kyiv’ by Jannic Durand (General Curator of Heritage, Director of the Department of Works of Art at the Louvre Museum), Wednesday 9th March at 14:30 local time, in the Musee de Beaux Arts Rouen auditorium.

For complete details, please click here.

FEATURED PHOTO:

Tracing the ruin of the Desyatunna Church in Kyiv. Source: Wikipedia/Lapitsky

READ MORE:

Microtopography of the 10th Century Pagan Burial Ground under the Desyatynna Church Courtyard in Kyiv
By V. K. Koziuba
Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine (2021), Vol. 38/1, pp.

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