Oschadbank and Visa became partners of the multimedia exhibition project “On Guard of St. Sophia”

Oschadbank and Visa have become general partners of the large-scale multimedia exhibition project “On Guard of St. Sophia”, which demonstrates the current Russian-Ukrainian war as a result of the centuries-long confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian civilizations with their completely opposite values.

“Oschad continues to support Ukrainian art, which, among other things, forms the national identity of Ukrainians. “On Guard of St. Sophia” is a project that demonstrates the gap between the systems of values, beliefs and worldviews of the Ukrainian nation and representatives of the aggressor country. The value of this initiative lies in the fact that it helps to realize and analyze historical mistakes in order to prevent their recurrence in the future,” comments Sergii Naumov, Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank.

“At Visa, we are proud to support such important cultural initiatives as the exhibition project “On Guard of St. Sophia”, which helps to realize important lessons of the past and comprehend the strength of our nation through historical events. We believe that such projects contribute not only to the preservation of our historical heritage, but also to the formation of a conscious and united society,” said Svitlana Chyrva, Vice President, Regional Manager of Visa in Ukraine and Moldova.

“Today, two worlds have once again clashed on our land - the “Russian world” of aggressors and destroyers and Ukrainian spirituality, self-sacrifice, and people's will, which have been helping us to fight for the preservation of our statehood for thousands of years. This exhibition is a reminder to all of us how different we are from the enemy and how important it is to know history for an objective understanding of the situation,” emphasizes Diana Popova, Director General of the Museum of the History of Kyiv.  

This exhibition will encourage visitors to deeply reflect on the military events of both the present and the past. The exposition is based on global antitheses that clearly symbolize the main message of the project: light and darkness, peaceful state-building and imperial ideology, defense of one's own land and invasion campaigns, heroism and depravity of war crimes, humanism and cruelty.

The exposition consists of three thematic spaces: Ukrainian Civilization, Russian Civilization, and Kyiv Defense. The first one will demonstrate the continuity and progress of Ukrainian civilization from the princely era to the present day - the development of crafts and industry, science and education, church and art, the formation of the state and the processes of decolonization. The second block will focus on the Russian-Soviet civilization, which dates back to the Golden Horde, including authoritarian rule and totalitarianism, coercion and repression, wars of conquest, and the cult of personality. This block will symbolically begin with a recreated entrance to a concentration camp; it will feature uniforms and other attributes of the camp system, numerous weapons, military awards, a collective image of a Soviet military leader, and more. The third space will dive into the recent history of Kyiv's defense against Russian invaders in February-March 2022, show the fate of various cities in Kyiv region that suffered from war criminals, and testify to the devastating consequences of the Russian presence on the Ukrainian land.

The “On Guard of St. Sophia” exhibition project seeks to demonstrate to every visitor the importance of engaging in the struggle as much as possible. The museum team explains visually, with unique exhibits and multimedia technologies, why the war began, why it could not but begin, and what it threatens civilization.

The exhibition features exhibits from the stock collection of the Museum of the History of Kyiv and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

The exhibition will be open to the public from September 18, according to the museum's schedule, which is available on the website here.

Oschad and Visa are once again supporting cultural projects during the war. The companies previously partnered with the unique exhibition “Maria Paints”, featuring 100 unknown works by legendary artist Maria Prymachenko, presented by the Ukrainian House.

Overall, Oschadbank has been supporting Ukrainian art for over 10 years. Among the projects supported by Oschadbank are a panel discussion on the role of art during the war, an exhibition of works by Ukrainian artists “Are You OK?” at the Ukrainian House, the open All-Ukrainian festival-competition for young violinists Maestro dell'Arco and others.