On October 29, 2024, a special event took place for everyone interested in the history and culture of our region — an updated exposition of the Museum of Shipbuilding and Fleet was presented! Two new halls revealed to the guests the secrets of Cossack shipping, military campaigns of Zaporizhzhia Cossacks of the XV-XVIII centuries, as well as the rich history of the Black Sea Cossack Army.
The project is being implemented by the Adult learning and education center “South” with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, as well as the Mykolaiv City Council’s municipal institution Mykolaiv Development Agency, the Mykolaiv Regional Museum of Local Lore, and a large team of specialists, from ship modelers and designers to historians. Thanks to their work, visitors can see models and semi-models of Cossack boats — a real gem of sea and river shipbuilding! Until now, no other museum in the world had a similar collection.
The project “Rethinking the Cultural and Historical Heritage of Mykolaiv Region in the Cossack Era: Traditions of Cossack Shipbuilding and its Impact on the Development of the Region in the XV-XVIII Centuries” gathered more than 200 guests — from young children to adults — who were excited to see the renovated halls.
Ruslana Sikalenko, manager of the regional project “Identity of Mykolaiv Region: Past, Present and Future” of the Adult learning and education center “South”, noted that despite the scale of the work and the comprehensive approach to covering the Black Sea Cossacks, the greatest reward for the project team was the emotions of the visitors.
“Despite the fact that the team managed to cover the topic of the Black Sea Cossacks for the first time on a thorough level, as well as to develop and present models and semi-models of all types of Cossack boats as the basis of not only marine but also river shipbuilding (because until now such a collection has not been developed and, accordingly, presented in any museum in the world), I believe that the real value of the project is the visitors’ enthusiastic eyes and feedback on the re-exposition. When we see that children and young people forget about their gadgets and enthusiastically catch every word, and then lively and emotionally discuss what they have seen, it is a victory! We really want the younger generation to be proud of their country and Mykolaiv region in particular, because it is incredible,” she said.
Special guests of the event were: Olena Buberenko, Head of the Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Yuriy Lyubarov, Head of the Department of Culture and Protection of Cultural Heritage of the City Council, Nadiia Ryzheva and Yuriy Kotlyar, well-known scientists, and Oleksiy Patalakh, a historian from Kherson and author of books on local history.
We thank all our partners and colleagues for their support! We are pleased that this project has become an important part of the Mykolaiv Region Identity and helped to show the strength and uniqueness of our cultural heritage at the national level.
