Touring exhibition visits Ukraine

Modernism in Ukraine - Modern Roots and Heritage of Kharkiv and Lviv

The Special Focus on the Modernism 2022 Triennial and its opening event was dedicated to the roots and heritage of Modernism in Ukraine. In view of the ongoing war and the special significance of the architectural heritage, the exhibition and its themes were continued after 2022. A sixth part of the exhibition was realized in 2024. Thanks to appropriate funding, there are now plans to take the individual parts of the exhibition on tour. The first stop will be Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, where three parts of the exhibition will be on display from November 18, 2024 to January 19, 2025. From May 13 to June 30, 2025, parts of the exhibition will now be shown in the iconic Derzhprom complex in Kharkiv.

Modernism in Ukraine

Modern Roots and Heritage of Kharkiv and Lviv

The exhibition series was the Opening to a transnational cooperation, which is part of the initiative for a European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM) with changing partners and within the "Strategic Triangle for Modernism", which was founded together with DOCOMOMO International and ICOMOS. It is available as a traveling exhibition that can be shown in its entirety or in parts, depending on the occasion and space. Here is an overview of selected stations:

May 13 to June 30, 2025:

Exhibition parts 3, 4 and 6 as guests at Derzhprom in Kharkiv, Ukraine

The six-part exhibition series starting in 2022 Modernism in Ukraine - Modern Roots and Heritage of Kharkiv and Lviv funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and other partners, will be shown in Ukraine from May 13. The exhibition venue is the iconic Derzhprom complex in Kharkiv, a gigantic constructivist building from the late 1920s, which was already considered a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site by experts, but was last hit by Russian bombs in autumn 2024 and is still a theater of war, which also led to delays in shipping, customs formalities and construction. Despite the extremely difficult situation, a pre-opening took place on May 7, which was attended by Prof. Svitlana Smolenska, the author of chapters 4 and 6, as well as many others.

The exhibition parts 3, 4 and 6, shown in cooperation with the local YermilovCentre, consist of around 120 of the 283 panels in the series, which was created for the Modernism 2022 Triennial in Berlin and shown for the first time. The photo and text panels show outstanding Modernism buildings in Kharkiv and Lviv, explain them and place them in the context of a common European Modernism heritage. In view of the destruction and anti-modernist aspirations, their values and architectural witnesses need to be saved, communicated and ways of suitable restoration explored together.

The exhibition will open on May 13 at 5 pm at the Kharkiv Media Hub Gallery at 5 Freedom Square (Svoboda Square 5, 5th entry) and can be seen until June 30 from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free. It remains to be seen whether other locations in Ukraine - such as Lviv - will follow.

For those active in Ukraine, it is helpful, encouraging and important if the importance of architectural heritage is received as widely and transnationally as possible and ideally an international community of supporters is found. We therefore urge all partners and other stakeholders to disseminate this information - also posted on the Triennial 's social media channels (see Facebook - Instagram - Twitter ) - within their respective communities and via suitable channels.

Press releases

Press information in German | Show Press Info in English | Press photo 1 | Press photo 2

We would like to thank the following partners and sponsors:

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Social media visual / press photo no. 1:
Situation 2022 (Photo: Stanislav Ostrous)

Social Media Visual / Press Photo No. 2:
Derzhprom 2017 (Photo: Ben Buschfeld)

Social media visual no. 1: 1920s (source photo: Wikipedia, public domain)

November 18, 2024 to January 18, 2025:

Exhibition parts 3/4/6 of "Modernism in Ukraine" as guests in Chemnitz

Key visual of poster and social media (Photo: Stanislay Ostrous, 2022)

Three chapters of the six-part exhibition series on architectural modernism in Ukraine are now on display at the Wirkbau in Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025. The exemplary exhibition parts 3, 4 and 6, each with around two dozen exhibition panels, show

the work of architects of Jewish origin in Lviv,
the imposing ensemble of Svoboda Square with the Derzhprom building in Kharkiv and
a selection of the designs for the Ukrainian State Theater created in 1930 as part of an international competition.

Venue: Wirkbau, Haus A, Lothringer Str. 11, 09111 Chemnitz
Opening times: 18.11.-14.12.2024 + 16.-18.12.2025, Thu-Sat, 2-6 pm,
Finissage with curators/author guided tour: January 18, 2025, 2-6 pm
Special opening: Sun January 19, 2025, 2-6 pm

Show press release on 18.1.2025

Exhibition at Wirkbau, Chemnitz (Photo: Peter Winter, zukunftsgeraeusche GbR)

All three thematic sections underline the importance of Ukraine in the development of modern architecture and raise awareness of the common European heritage of this turbulent era and the devastation of the war in Ukraine.

The exhibition series, which was funded by the federal government, was created in cooperation with Ukrainian and Polish academics. It was developed in 2022 as part of the "Triennial der Modernism" festival and shown for the first time in Berlin. The current installation in Chemnitz is supported by the Federal Foreign Office, Kul'tura e.V. and the Ukrainian Institute in Germany. After Chemnitz, the exhibition will travel on to Kharkiv.

Special programs will take place on 6 December 2024 and 18 January 2025, during which the Ukrainian scientist Svitlana Smolenska will guide visitors through the exhibition sections she has developed and the curators of the project will also be represented.

Lecture / exhibition tour: 6.12.2024, 4-6 pm
- Olga Pischl, Steglitz-Zehlendorf twinning association : Greeting and outlook
- Ben Buschfeld, buschfeld.com:
  Introduction about the exhibition and its context (in German and/or English)
- Prof. Dr. Svitlana Smolenska:
  Guided author's tour to chapters 4 + 6 (in English and/or Ukrainian)
Finissage / exhibition tour: Sat, 18.1.2025, 2-7 pm
- Curators tour (in German and/or English):
  Robert K. Huber (and/or Ben Buschfeld)

Further documents and press download

The complete exhibition series

Modern Roots and Heritage of Kharkiv and Lviv

The organizers are looking forward to cooperations. To inquire about taking over an exhibition, please send us an e-mail.

The following exhibition sections exist

Part #1 (Duration 2.10.2022 - 21.10.2022)
Sat, 1.10., 19:45: Vernissage Photo Exhibition
Lviv Modernism: Let buildings speak.
Visual story of Lviv modern housing architecture
Partner*in: Lviv Centre for Urban History (LCUH); Author*in / Photographer*in: Myroslava Liakhovych Myroslava Liakhovych (associated researcher at the Center for Urban History, Lviv / currently at ETH Zurich - Institute for History and Theory of Architecture); Date: Opening on 01 October, 19:30, at BHROX, as an evening program of the second day of the kick-off event of the Triennial of Modernism 2022

Part #2 (Duration 28.10. - 9.11.2022)
Thu, 27.10. , 19:30: Vernissage photo exhibition
City, Architecture, Modernism -
Public buildings of the interwar period in Lviv
Partner*in: International Cultural Centre (ICC), Krakow in cooperation with Museum of Architecture in Wrocław (MAW); Author*in / Photographer*in: Michal Wisniewski (ICC), Żanna Komar (MAW), Andrzej Szczerski (MAW), Pawel Mazur (Photography); Location: BHROX bauhaus reuse

Part #3 (Duration 14.11. - 24.11.2022)
Sun, 13.11., from 18:00: Opening panel exhibition
The Modernism in Lviv and the contribution of Jewish architects*.
Ferdynand Kassler - inventor of the Galician Modernism
Partner*in: Lviv Polytechnic National University Author*in / Photographer*in: Bohdan Cherkes in cooperation with Yulia Bohdanova and Igor Kopyliak; Place from 20:00: TU Architecture Building

Part #4 (running 11/14 - 11/24/2022)
Sun, 11/13, from 18:00 Opening panel exhibition
Svoboda (Freedom) Square Ensemble in Kharkiv [*]
Partner*in / Author*in: Svitlana Smolenska (associate researcher at the Kharkiv School of Architecture, Technical University of Berlin and the OWL Technical University, ICOMOS Ukraine); Location: BHROX bauhaus reuse

Part #5 (Duration: Mon, 11/28 - 12/16/2022, 12:00-20:00)
Ukrainian Socialist Postmodernism
Partner*in: Urban Forms Center (UFC), Kharkiv Author*in / Photographer*in: Ievgeniia Gubkina and Pavlo Dorogoy (photography); Location: BHROX bauhaus reuse

Part #6 (duration 16.4. to 12.5.2024, 12:00-20:00)
The International Competition for
Kharkiv Mass Musical Theater with 4,000 seats from 1930 [*]
Partner*in / Autor*in: Svitlana Smolenska (ICOMOS Ukraine, associated researcher at the Department of Construction, Architecture and Design of the Kherson State Agrarian and Economic University, the Technical University of Berlin and the OWL Technical University); Location: BHROX bauhaus reuse - exhibition opening combined with presentation of Docomomo Journal No. 70, workshop talk and discussion

Initiative, curation, layout,
Production and organization

BHROX bauhaus reuse / zukunftsgeraeusche GbR - Curation and coordination: Robert K. Huber, Production: Peter Winter
In coordination and co-curation with:
Ben Buschfeld, buschfeld.com - graphic and interface design

Cooperation partners
of the traveling exhibitions

ICOMOS International
DOCOMOMO International
BMWSB - Federal Ministry of Housing,
Urban Development and Construction
Federal Foreign Office
Ukrainian Institute in Germany
Kultura e. V.
Town twinning association
Steglitz-Zehlendorf e. V.

partners in Ukraine:

Yermilov Center
Karazin Kharkiv National University
Kharkiv Media Hub
Kharkiv Media Hub Gallery

Project framework

a project as part of the "European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM)" initiative

In content-related cooperation with:

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district
Centre for Urban History, Lviv (CUH)
International Cultural Centre Krakow with Museum of Architecture Wrocław
Lviv Polytechnic National University
Urban Forms Center Kharkiv
Kharkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Svitlana Smolenska, affiliate researcher at Kharkiv School of Architecture, Technical University of Berlin and OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, back then funded by the Volkswagen Foundation
Society for the Study of the Lives and Work of German-speaking Jewish Architects
IfA - TU Berlin
Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe
House of Arts Brno