Kiev, 18 March 2006, reflects on the importance of a museum as a bastion of resistance against secrecy and censorship, told through 80 slides projected by a rotating slide projector, with the emphasis on stories that need to be told and the thoughts that must be able to be expressed freely.
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 was one of the greatest disasters of the 20th century and ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
After the disaster, the Soviet authorities attempted to cover it up, and this silence persisted. The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum was dedicated to uncovering the secrets and to preserving and sharing the history of the nuclear disaster and its consequences. The museum was located at 1 Khoryva Lane in a historic district in the city centre.
The museum housed an extensive collection of visual media, scale models and other artefacts. Various exhibitions depicted the technical progression of the accident, including an impressive three-phase electromechanical diorama showing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant before, during and after the 1986 disaster. There were also many areas dedicated to the loss of human life and the cultural consequences of the disaster.
[Update] The museum was destroyed by a Russian missile and drone attack on cultural institutions in Kyiv on 24 May 2026.
Despite the fire that broke out after the attack and the partial collapse of the building, around 40 per cent of the collection was saved. The destruction of the museum and the even greater devastation caused by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine highlight the urgent need to continue fighting against the silencing and erasure of history.
(Kiev, 18 March 2006 was acquired by the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven in 2007).
