MUSEUM OF PEACE

Video Tour to the Museum of Peace:  https://youtu.be/7zKW2BNFlSQ

The Museum of Peace was opened in 1999 and is a unique educational museum in Ukrainian higher education institutions.
Its goal is to educate students on the ideas of peace, humanism and democracy.
The initiator was Stepan Demianchuk (1925-2000), a well-known teacher in Ukraine, academician of the IPA, and founder of the university.

Museums of Peace play an important role in peace education by working beyond the school curriculum and engaging visitors in non-formal and informal education. The dual focus on peacebuilding and memory-making is at the heart of the work of the Museum of Peace at the International University (Rivne, Ukraine). Founding the museum, educator Stepan Demianchuk set out to highlight the major events in Ukraine’s history that led the country to social and economic transformation in the late 1990s, including the acquisition of sovereignty and independence, the transition from a Soviet planned economy to a market economy, and the renewed emphasis on human values and peaceful relations between different ethnic groups in Ukraine. Notably, Demianchuk also saw museum visits as an opportunity to educate children in the spirit of peace, tolerance, and harmony.

What was unthinkable in 1999 are the events that took place in 2014 and 2022: russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, followed by its invasion of Ukraine.

Nowadays, the world had seen many horrors of russian brutality in Ukraine, the full extent of which had not yet been fully investigated, reported, and rectified. Wartime calls into question the peacemaking work of peace museums. Is it possible to engage in peacemaking in the context of military aggression? How can memory formation be maintained when violent conflict makes memories too intense and too painful to bear?

However, for the Museum of Peace in Rivne, February 24, 2022, was a time when its peacekeeping work became even more important in the face of the war. Opened in 1999, the Museum of Peace in Rivne is a unique institution among Ukrainian higher education institutions. The museum consists of three halls.

The Museum of Peace as an Educational Space

University teachers use the Museum of Peace for classes and regular excursions. For example, the university’s Preschool Education program includes a module on Methods of National and Patriotic Education of Early Childhood and Preschool Children. As part of this module, the program’s leaders and teachers annually organize a training day that third-year students of the Faculty of Future Educators spend at the museum.

Every year in April, the Museum of Peace becomes a peacebuilding educational platform and hosts pupils from Rivne and the region – participants of the International Public Pupils’ Readings “I Vote for Peace!”. A unique exhibit of the museum is a collection of all editions of pupils’ works published since 1997 and up to now.

A special role is played by the breakout session for primary school students, which takes place at the Museum of Peace. Before starting to work in groups, the pupils are given a tour of the Museum’s expositions. Children are mostly interested in the second exhibition hall “Peace Builds – War Destroys”.

Young visitors are impressed by the flag of Ukraine, where children leave their wishes for Ukrainian soldiers, as well as photos of children’s letters sent to defenders at the front line. In particular, thanks to the interactive work in the museum, children whose parents are not in the military zone have the opportunity to better understand the emotional state and experiences of their peers who are waiting for their relatives to return from the frontline every day. At the same time, for children whose parents are currently performing military duty in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, such interaction becomes an important source of moral support. They feel the solidarity of their peers and adults, which helps to strengthen their confidence in the safe return of their relatives.

Sectional classes at the Museum of Peace have a comprehensive educational effect, contributing to the development of important personal and social competencies in younger pupils:
– The development of civic competencies takes place in the process of familiarizing oneself with the museum’s exhibits illustrating the history of peacekeeping initiatives and the struggle for freedom and dignity.
– The formation of skills of cohesion, friendship and teamwork is realized during the preparation of creative works, including drawings and letters to support the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
– The development of empathy is manifested through emotional interaction with children whose parents are in the combat zone, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the value of human life and the importance of supporting each other in times of war.
– Maintaining optimism and building confidence in the future is a key aspect for children whose relatives are directly involved in hostilities, which has a positive impact on their psychological state.
– Fostering patriotic feelings occurs naturally in the process of interacting with the Museum of Peace exposition and engaging in initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine’s defenders.

Thus, the activities of the Museum of Peace in the format of public readings “I Vote for Peace” create a powerful educational space that combines educational, civic, emotional and psychological aspects aimed at forming an active civic position among young people, responsibility for peace in their own country and the world.

As part of the grant project “I vote for Peace: Compassion and Cooperation in Times of War”, the Museum was renovated. The funds were used to renovate stands, shelves, insulation, repairing, and purchase the necessary equipment (Smart TV, chairs, stands, exhibition stands), which will help attract students and the public to open classes, roundtables, excursions, exhibitions, patriotic events, and raise public awareness of military actions in the history of Ukraine.

Recently, the first hall of the museum was enriched with a memorial board of the outstanding sculptor Tomasz-Oskar Sosnowski, which was installed in the Museum of Peace on the initiative of the Polish Embassy and the administration of the IUEH. This proves that nowadays the Museum of Peace is a kind of local center of international cooperation and a platform of memory for both the Ukrainian and Polish peoples.

Every year, the Museum of Peace welcomes more than 2,000 visitors. About 50 tours are held for pupils, students, scientists, military men, volunteers, cultural and artistic figures, politicians, sportsmen, foreigners and ordinary citizens. The Museum of Peace hosts meetings of student scientific societies, roundtables, flash mobs, contests, conferences, open lectures, seminars, etc.

The guests of the museum who left memorable entries in the guest book (the Book of Honorary Visitors) were Ukrainian scientists, cultural activists, students of various universities, international partners, representatives of local authorities, ambassadors, consuls, and others

The Museum of Peace in Rivne was founded to promote the spirit of peace in the local community and throughout Ukraine, as well as to improve the understanding of peace education among children and teachers. Over the past 27 years, the synergy of the I Vote for Peace project and the Museum has helped to engage children in peacebuilding and memory preservation. Since 2022, this work has become even more important, enabling children to express their hope for a peaceful future, develop compassion for all those affected by the war, and maintain their faith in victory. The Museum of Peace is a safe space where children’s voices and their everyday experiences matter, an important element of peace education both in times of war and peace.