The Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine invites you to make an odyssey, following the artistic, literary and historical paths that lead from ancient to modern Ukraine. The exhibition «Ukrainian Odyssey. Etchings by Volodymyr Bakhtov to Lina Kostenko’s poem» is based on the graphics of the Honored Artist of Ukraine, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, winner of the Silver Medal of the Paris Grand Palais Art Salon Volodymyr Bakhtov. In particular, the exhibition features etchings created by the artist for the poem-ballad «Scythian Odyssey» by Lina Kostenko, published by Lybid Publishing House in 2020. 

At the exhibition, the self-contained streams of Volodymyr Bakhtov’s works, Lina Kostenko’s poem, and ancient exhibits of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine are combined to help you feel the ancient past of Ukraine and make it part of your worldview and your identity, for which we are now fighting in the war with Russia. 

Among the exhibits of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine presented at the exhibition, you can see a part of the Pishchane hoard – Greek bronze utensils, found in the Cherkasy region in the 1960s, ancient Greek ceramics that were used in Ukraine in ancient times, Scythian weapons, tools, elements of a horse bridle, as well as fragments of Russian shells left after the liberation of the occupied Ukrainian territories. 

Each showcase of the exhibition is a small stop on the journey. Some of the «stops» are clear at a glance, some are accompanied by quotes, especially from Herodotus, and some can be a kind of quest for the visitor. The exhibition has a place for feedback, where you can express yourself. In particular, you can answer Lina Kostenko’s question: «...Who are we? Who are we? Who are we?»

The peculiarity of the odyssey as a type of travel since Homer’s time is the ending: despite the hardships, the hero returns home. This exhibition is a kind of homecoming. Since February 24, 2022, the house and studio – the Bakhtov House – created by Volodymyr and Tetiana near the ruins of the ancient city of Olbia near the village of Parutyne in the Mykolaiv region have been under constant threat of destruction. But the author’s etchings keep his creative spirit alive in Kyiv, in the heart of Ukraine, while he, like millions of Ukrainians, is forced to stay abroad.   

The exhibition curator is Iryna Udovychenko, senior research fellow of the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. 

Entrance to the exhibition:

regular ticket – 150 UAH

schoolchildren/students/pensioners – 80 UAH.