Czech Republic and Ukraine Launch Joint ARK III Project to Digitise Cultural Heritage Sites
The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine are launching a joint two-year ARK III (Ark) project aimed at preserving Ukraine's cultural heritage through digitisation. It will start in spring 2025, the press service of the Ukrainian ministry reports. The relevant declaration was signed in Lviv by the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
‘Ukraine is launching the ARK III (Ark) project, which is being implemented as part of the Support Ukrainian Culture initiative and aims to preserve cultural heritage through digitalisation,’ the statement said.
Negotiations on the implementation and preparation of the project with colleagues from the Czech Ministry of Culture lasted more than a year. This is not the first experience of cooperation for the preservation and digitisation of cultural heritage sites.
‘The project envisages the operation of two mobile stations worth CZK 10 and 20 million, which will allow digitising ancient manuscripts and making 3D scans of cultural objects,’ said Luboš Vesely, director of the Karel Komarek Family Foundation. This organisation provides financial support for the initiative, the ministry said.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve will become the basic centre for training Ukrainian specialists.
According to the reserve's director general, Maksym Ostapenko, the first candidate for digitisation is one of the museums in Mariupol.
‘In the near future, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra will exhibit several exhibits that have been preserved from the destroyed museum in Mariupol, which burned down completely. And in the near future we will negotiate the digitisation of these relics, which are very important for the history of the city of Mariupol and its community,’ Ostapenko said.
Teams of three specialists will work in the mobile centres. They will be able to move quickly throughout Ukraine. Digitisation will be carried out directly in a specially equipped van and in museums.
‘This will help preserve the cultural heritage, despite the attempts to destroy it by the Russian aggressor,’ said Czech Deputy Minister of Culture Ondrej Hrast.
The project was initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. It will be implemented by the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Conservation Area in cooperation with the Karel Komarek Family Foundation (KKFF).