Ukraine’s Khanenko Museum Wins Global “Project of Influence 2025” Award for Cultural Resilience
The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv has been named the Project of Influence 2025 at The Best in Heritage conference in Barcelona – one of the world’s most prestigious recognitions for museums and cultural institutions.
The Gaze reports this, referring to an announcement made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications.
The ministry hailed the award as a powerful acknowledgment of Ukrainian cultural resilience and innovation during wartime.
According to the organizers, The Best in Heritage annually distinguishes only two projects globally, Project of Influence and IMAGINES, highlighting groundbreaking contributions to heritage preservation and museum practices.
The initiative brings together winners of top international honors, including Europa Nostra, the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA), and CIMAM’s Award for Outstanding Museum Practices.
The Khanenko Museum was nominated following its earlier success as the 2024 CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practice Award winner.
Museum director Yuliia Vaganova accepted the award at the 24th The Best in Heritage conference, which gathered over 150 professionals and 40 laureates from around the world.
In their statement, the jury praised the Ukrainian institution as “a project born from pure resilience in the face of war – a reminder of humanity’s essence: care and solidarity. By transforming empty halls and absent collections into a space for creativity and community, the museum has become a beacon of endurance, transformation, and hope for peace.”
The Khanenko Museum emphasized that the recognition symbolizes international trust in Ukraine’s cultural institutions and underscores the strength of culture as a force of unity and recovery.
Founded in 1918, the museum is home to Ukraine’s most significant collections of European, Asian, and ancient art. Its core is the collection of philanthropists Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko, whose passion for art shaped one of the finest cultural legacies in Eastern Europe.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published a list of more than 170 Ukrainian cultural treasures stolen by Russian occupiers.