Mariupol Museum of Local Lore Publishes a Digital Catalog of Its Collection

On December 18, the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore, together with the Raphael Lemkin Society, the Museum of Contemporary Art NGO, and the HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab, presented its digital collection catalog during an online event. The launch marks an important step in preserving cultural heritage threatened by Russia’s aggression.

oday, the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore operates in exile and is focused on digitally reconstructing its collection. The digital catalog is being developed in collaboration with the Raphael Lemkin Society, the Museum of Contemporary Art NGO (MOCA), and the HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center. Its purpose is not only to preserve cultural memory, but also to document evidence of Russia’s crimes against Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

During the presentation, Mariia Sliota, Director of the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore, spoke about the museum’s work under the current realities.

“When the full-scale war began, the museum—like the entire city—was destroyed. All of our collections were either taken by the occupiers or destroyed, and the fate of many objects remains unknown. But most importantly, we preserved our people. They are the ones who will continue to safeguard the memory and identity of this city by the sea,” she said.

“The digital catalog is our core documentary record. We have documented that all of this belonged to us. And when the aggressor state claims that these works are its property, we will be able to prove that this is not true,” Mariia added.

Yuliia Hnat, co-founder and board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art NGO, outlined the context in which the project emerged.

“Among the key challenges we faced were processing inventory books and developing tools that allow for the rapid handling of large volumes of data, while also enabling other museums to scale this experience, move through the digitization process more quickly, and make their collections accessible more efficiently.”

Mariia Zadorozhna, a board member of the Raphael Lemkin Society and the HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab, shared the key priorities of the collaboration.

“Our main task is to collect complete and reliable information about the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore’s collection. The heart of any museum is its collection, and its foundation lies in the inventory books on which we relied,” she emphasized.

In addition, the project aims to support the museum’s work in exile, scale this experience for other institutions, and transfer the collected data to law enforcement agencies to support comprehensive investigations of crimes against Ukrainian culture.

Vasyl Rozhko, Director and Chair of the Board of the HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab, stressed the importance of building digital museum infrastructure that enables interaction across national, regional, and international systems.

 “A systemic approach to preserving cultural heritage and managing data makes it possible to support both institutions working to restore justice and museums seeking to preserve and present their collections for future generations,” he said.

Museum curator Nataliia Aruslanova and catalog developer Liubomyr Oliinyk presented the functionality of the online resource. Currently, the digital catalog features the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore’s painting and graphic art collections, comprising approximately 1,700 objects by 532 artists. In the future, the platform will ensure the preservation and accessibility of information on art, ethnographic, archaeological, and historical collections for researchers, art historians, and the general public.

ТDuring the presentation, the museum team also announced that an English-language version of the digital catalog will be launched by the end of January 2026. This will make the collection accessible to the international professional community and strengthen efforts to document crimes against Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

***

Media Contacts:

Mariupol Museum of Local Lore: muzejmariupol@gmail.comRaphael Lemkin Society: Svitlana Myronchuk, Communication Manager, s.myronchuk@lemkin.org.uaMuseum of Contemporary Art NGO: Mariia Klitynska, Communication Manager, press@moca.org.ua