The Sixties is the name of a new generation of Soviet and Ukrainian national intelligentsia, which appeared in culture and politics in the second half of the 1950s – during the period of temporary weakening of communist-Bolshevik totalitarianism and Khrushchev’s “thaw” (de-Stalinization and some liberalization) and reached maximum popularity at the beginning and mid-1960s (hence the name).
Museum of the Sixties – a branch of Museum of History of Kyiv – created on the initiative of a public organization with the same name, was officially opened on August 24, 2012 of the year. The basis of the museum’s collection is made up of private collections of Ukrainian dissidents of the sixties. The exhibition presents artistic works of talented and original artists (painting, graphics, sculpture, bookplate, appliqué, poster), samples of samizdat, a thematic library (Ukrainian and foreign publications), manuscripts, unique photographs and documents, personal belongings of the sixties and other items. The collection contains more than 30,000 items.
The list of topics presented in the exhibition is extremely rich. These are the historical background, the socio-historical atmosphere in Ukraine in the early 1960s; periodization and differential characteristics of various groups of sixties; literature about the sixties (then in Ukraine and the diaspora); a modern view of the sixties (documents, articles, publications); activities of creative youth clubs (Kyiv, Zhitomir, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk); youth literary and artistic associations; samizdat, works of art, political and journalistic materials, reprints in the West; literary heritage of the sixties; the meaning of diaspora; the individuals and organizations who shared their legacy; resistance movement in Ukraine of the 60-80s; the activities of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and its defeat, the activities of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union in the 80s (later turned into the Ukrainian Republican Party); materials of court cases of the sixties; imprisonment in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, camps, and exile; connection with the all-Union dissident movement, dissidents – Russians, Jews, Lithuanians, Latvians and others (in particular V. Nekrasov, G. Galich, V. Vysotsky, B. Okudzhava, I. Ratushinskaya, N. Sadunaite); wives of political prisoners; repression among those who supported and shared the ideas of the sixties; sixties artists, musicians, theater and film workers; the significance of the sixties in the renewal of society in the 1980-1990s and in the construction of the Ukrainian state.
The museum has an interesting exhibition built on original documents and photographs of the sixties, memorial items of heroes, and highly artistic works of artists. After all, it is difficult to imagine how it is possible to raise a generation of patriots of our state without the poems of Vasily Simonenko, Lina Kostenko, Vasily Stus. You can’t compare with anything the powerful graphics of Alla Gorskaya, artistic ceramics on historical themes, deeply philosophical graphics and paintings of Galina Sevruk, artistic works of Afanasy Zalivakha and Veniamin Kushnir… In addition to the sightseeing tour, the museum can book excursions of literary and artistic directions, a theatrical excursion, thematic conversations in the interior of the sixties. Work is underway on an in-depth excursion into the cinematic art and theatrical activities of the sixties. The museum constantly organizes thematic photo-documentary and art exhibitions (including contemporary Ukrainian artists), their presentations, literary and musical evenings, book presentations, and the like.
Where is the Sixties Museum?
Olesya Gonchar Street, 33A
(044) 234-12-04
10:00 – 18:00, closed: Mon and last day of the month