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Since 2014 we have been working tirelessly on the strengthening of cultural relations between the UK and Ukraine. Our aim is to promote the cultural wealth of both countries, to establish and to deepen the links between cultural heritage institutions and professionals, to facilitate dialogue and exchange of knowledge, and to boost training in cultural heritage conservation. This process has seen steady progressing, with Ukraine striving to be a fully-fledged part of Europe since its post-USSR independence – but also probably since the Kievan Rus times. We have been successful at establishing a first networking platform for UK and Ukrainian conservators, which was made possible with competitive grant awards from the British Council and the endorsement of the British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers (BAPCR) committee.
- Katya Belaia-Selzer: founder
- The core team are: Valeriia Kravchenko: co-founder & freelance paintings conservator with a Masters from the Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Ukraine
- Dr Donatella Banti: freelance paintings conservator & scientist, PhD, MRSC, FHEA
- Svitlana Gaga-Sheremetieva: head of the conservation and restoration department of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historic and Cultural UNESCO Preserve
We are partners with the Institute of Conservation in the UK and Blue Shield International, working closely with international heritage organisations such as IIC and ALIPH Foundation. Here are our achievements so far:
2022-2024: The UA-UK Cultural Heritage Initiative continues helping the international effort to deliver essential conservation materials and equipment to Ukraine. Our partners include the Blue Shield International, ICON (Institute of Conservation), ICOMOS UK (International Council on Monuments and Sites), ICOM UK (International Committee of Museums) and BAPCR (British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers), as well as volunteers from various UK organisations.
2023: A donation of a vacuum table by Willard Conservation Equipment Engineers has been delivered to The National Centre for Restoration and Research in Kyiv. A huge thank you to Karol Swiacki at Ukraine Relief who organised transportation. This is the only vacuum lining table in Kyiv and is invaluable for our colleagues in performing vital structural work on paintings and textiles.
2023: Ukrainian conservator refugees in the UK receiving specialist training in NanoGel technology and applications for painting conservation taught by Rachel Barker Associates.
2023: Ukrainian conservator refugees talk about the Ukrainian icon at the Art Workers Guild, London
2023: With valuable financial support from the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) we are putting together the first professional English-Ukrainian conservation dictionary. The draft is currently live on this website
2022: Ukrainian paintings conservator refugee, Ahneta Shashkova, who arrived to the UK in May 2022 was granted the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Apprenticeship at Katya Belaia-Selzer Studio in order to continue her formal training and develop new skills.
2022: The Huguenot Museum in Rochester, Medway, gave an incredible opportunity to two Ukrainian refugees, professional paintings conservators, to restore portraits from the museum’s collection. In so doing it allowed the refugees to continue practicing their craft and find dignity and meaning in spite of the appalling events currently unfolding in their homeland. Treatment was carried out at Katya Belaia-Selzer studio.
2022: Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, we have helped bring over 20 Ukrainian conservator refugees, including students, to the UK through the UK’s Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. Together with a group of volunteers we have been able to find each one of them a safe home and work opportunities in their specialist disciplines, help them with CVs, organize studio visits and develop their professional networks. We have facilitated various specialist training for the conservator refugees, including the Getty Lining Initiative workshop led by the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Maritime Conservation Studios, London, Courier training by the National Gallery of London art handling team and the National Trust environmental monitoring training.
2018: Awarded the Culture Bridges grant from the British Council in Ukraine to allow for our partner, Valeriia Kravchenko, a paintings conservator from Dnipro Sidur Art School and Gallery, to travel to the UK to co-present an original paper “Migration of ideas and approaches: tracing conservation practices in Ukraine from the Soviet to contemporary history” at a conference organized by the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge, entitled: Migrants: art, artists, materials and ideas crossing borders”.
2016: In collaboration with The British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers we were awarded the UA-UK Collaboration Development Award from the British Council as part of its Creative Europe funding scheme aimed at safeguarding and developing European cultural and linguistic diversity and promoting its heritage. This allowed us to receive colleagues from the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve in the UK. Their visit was hosted by the Ukrainian Embassy in London, the National Portrait Gallery in London, The National Gallery, The V&A, Tate Britain, The Courtauld Institute of Art and the private studios of Katherine Ara Ltd, Anna Sanden and Simon Bobak.
2015: Presented on the methods of National Trust Housekeeping at the UNESCO annual conference “International Practices in Protecting, Preserving and Popularizing World Heritage Cultural Properties” hosted by the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve.
2015: Organised a five-day study trip for the members of the British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers to Kyiv’s main conservation departments, studios and museums.
You can help to support our cause through the JustGiving page
Read about the history of the Initiative on ICON’s website