Mar

Saving Cultural Heritage in Crisis

Last week, the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management (OVS) hosted our March Smithsonian Volunteer Enrichment program, Saving Cultural Heritage in Crisis. During the program, Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, talked about previous efforts of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and about their current efforts in Ukraine.

woman uses brush to work on artifact — *Member of the response team in Ukraine working on restoring an object. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative.*

If you were unable to join us for the live program (or want to watch it again), the recording is now available! As a reminder, we ask that you do not share our recordings outside of the Smithsonian as a courtesy to our presenters.

The link and passcode for this program have been shared with active volunteers. To receive the link and passcode again, please email OVSEnrichment@si.edu

To learn more about the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, you can visit their website here: https://culturalrescue.si.edu/

Interested in the articles and videos Richard mentioned in his talk? Links to each of them are below:

PBS NewsHour (3/17/22) – Ukraine’s Cultural Sites Under Threat From Russian Invasion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NymW9bzDfA0&t=0s
SI Magazine Article (3/18/22) – The Music and Freedom We Experienced on the Streets of Kyiv: http://bit.ly/3YxdBAk
SI Magazine Article – (7/27/22) – Can Cultural Treasures in Occupied Ukraine Be Saved?: http://bit.ly/3ygS0RQ
Smithsonian Sidedoor Podcast Episode (7/27/22) – Culture in Crisis: https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/culture-crisis
SI Magazine Article – (2/22/2023) – How Ukrainians Are Defending Their Cultural Heritage From Russian Destruction – http://bit.ly/3ZmGKzp