A New Chapter for Ukrainian Museums: Launch of the Digital Registry
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a resolution for the initiation of an experimental project — the Museum Collections Registry of Ukraine. This digital system will consolidate information about all museum artifacts in the country, ensuring their accounting, preservation, and protection. It aims to enhance transparency and management of these processes.
“Every museum will have its own cabinet and free access to a unified interface. The digital registry will allow for monitoring, inventorying, and controlling the movement of museum valuables both within Ukraine and abroad. Access to data about museum collections and information regarding the search and return of stolen or lost artifacts will be provided. Thanks to this registry, we will be able to implement various other projects more swiftly, including evacuation efforts. It is a crucial initiative for preserving our cultural heritage,” emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy, Tetiana Berezhna.
The resolution is necessary for organizing processes related to the gathering, storage, protection, and processing of information about museum items and collections that belong to the state sector of Ukraine's Museum Fund.
The registry will enable monitoring, inventorying, and controlling the movement of museum valuables, as well as providing tools for accessing information about the search and return of stolen or lost artifacts. Furthermore, the system will offer convenient and secure access to data about museum collections.
The registry will allow for:
- documenting each museum item in a digital format;
- controlling the movement of artifacts both within Ukraine and abroad;
- promptly responding to cases of disappearance or theft of cultural valuables;
- creating a database for the return of lost museum items;
- developing analytics on the status of museum collections.
The experimental project will last for up to two years, during which technical solutions, the interaction of the Registry with other electronic systems, and the user base will be tested.
The establishment of the Registry is an important step towards preserving Ukraine's Museum Fund and enhancing the role of museums and reserves in shaping modern Ukrainian culture.