Той День

See the Independence Flag and symbols of power for a thousand years, visit the president's office thanks to VR goggles, sing your favorite songs in a karaoke car, fly over the Kaniv Reservoir and stroll through a cherry orchard: the interactive exhibition "That Day" opens in Kyiv

PHOTO (source: Ukraine WOW)

You can raise the flag over the dome of the Verkhovna Rada, visit the session hall of the parliament and the office of the President of Ukraine thanks to VR glasses, see the starry sky over Kyiv as it was on August 24, 1991, record a news broadcast in a TV and radio studio, leave your dream in a cloud of dreams, and much more from August 24 at the interactive exhibition "That Day." The project, created by the Ukraine WOW team for the 35th anniversary of the restoration of independence, opens at the Central Railway Station in Kyiv.

Three halls — three views on independence

The exhibition consists of three blocks. In the “Choice” hall, visitors can learn about the events that unfolded in 1991: from the August vote for Ukraine’s independence in parliament to the December vote in the all-Ukrainian referendum. The editors of this block were historians Oleksandr Zinchenko and Maksym Honchar.

In the second hall, "What Defines Us," visitors are invited to reflect on what traits unite Ukrainians — today and a century ago. Here, the editor is public figure and business school teacher Valeriy Pekar, and the curators Kseniya Malykh and Oksana Barshinova worked on the artistic part.

The third hall — "Dream" — is dedicated to the future. Psychologist Svitlana Royz and editor Mark Levin worked on it. And the team of The Ukrainians prepared essays about the future of Ukraine: Kyrylo Budanov, Mykhailo Drapaty, Svitlana Royz, Pavlo Kazarin, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, Oleksandra Matviychuk, Serhiy Zhadan, Myroslav Marynovych shared their thoughts.

Unique exhibits and symbols of statehood

For the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, the exhibition will feature the official symbols of the power of the President of Ukraine, which are used during the inauguration: the flag (standard), the badge (collar), the mace, and the official seal. As well as the most prestigious world awards that Volodymyr Zelenskyy received on behalf of the Ukrainian people.

Among the exhibits are also:

• five flags associated with important moments in Ukrainian history: the Flag of Independence, which was introduced to the Verkhovna Rada on August 24, 1991; the first flag installed at the Antarctic station "Akademik Vernadsky" in 1996; the flag from Rivne, on which on December 23, 1991, the military took the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people; the first flag raised over the city administration in Stryi on March 14, 1990; the flag from the "Chain of Unity" on January 21, 1990, when over a million Ukrainians, holding hands, formed a human chain from Ivano-Frankivsk to Kyiv;
• attributes of power over more than a thousand years of statehood: swords, maces, spears - from the time of Rus to the Ukrainian People's Republic;
• the recreated bell of the Tithe Church is the result of international cooperation of four teams;
• original works by Tetyana Yablonska, Viktor Zaretsky, Anatol Petrytsky, Yuri Pikul, Oleksandr Roitburd, as well as "Cossack Mamai" from the collection of the National Art Museum of Ukraine.

Some of the exhibits will be presented in the form of holograms and digital copies. In particular, sculptures by Johann Pinzel, works "Evening" by Arkhip Kuindzhi, and "The Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan" by Ilya Repin from the collection of the Kharkiv Art Museum, which is currently being evacuated.

In the digital version at the exhibition "That Day", Repin's work will become interactive - visitors will be able to take a photo and find themselves in the place of one of the Cossacks.

Interactive installations and experiences

As in other Ukraine WOW projects, a significant part is made up of interactive installations. Visitors will be able to:

• to climb the dome of the Verkhovna Rada to raise the Ukrainian flag above it;
• see the ballot used in the 1991 referendum and fill it out;
• to record a news broadcast from the Verkhovna Rada in a full-fledged television studio specially built for the "1+1" exhibition;
• record a news story for the radio;
• find yourself in the office of the President of Ukraine and in the Verkhovna Rada thanks to VR glasses;
• to see the starry sky over Kyiv as it was on August 24, 1991;
• sing your favorite independence songs in the karaoke car;
• sitting in a dream boat among pink sand, listen to poems performed by Ukrainian actors Hryhoriy Baklanov, Vyacheslav Dovzhenko, Antonina Khyzhnyak, Anastasia Pustovit;
• vote for the best borscht recipe and the funniest memes;
• take a walk through the cherry orchard, which Taras Shevchenko praised;
• fly over the Kaniv Reservoir using VR glasses;
• take a photo near the installation dedicated to the Cossack Baroque (5 meters high and 8 meters wide). It was built by the Mutabor Practical Effects studio, which creates effects for Hollywood films. Among their works are special effects for the series "Chernobyl" (HBO);
• to leave your dream in a cloud of dreams so that it will be preserved and published in 15 years, on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine's independence;
• and also to dream together about what we will do first on the Day when…

Who created the exhibition?

The exhibition "That Day" was created by the public organization Ukraine WOW with the support of the President of Ukraine, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia". All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to support Ukrainian museums. A team of over 300 people worked on the exhibition.

The project was created with the help of business. Its partners are ROZETKA, McDonald's, Bolt, Darnytsia, UPG, Ajax, ARS Capital. Media partners are The Ukrainians Media, Suspilne Mediateka, TSN.

The institutional partners of the exhibition are the National Museum of History of Ukraine, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and the National Center of Folk Culture "Ivan Honchar Museum".

Security and tickets

For safety reasons, the exhibits will be moved to a specially installed storage facility every evening. During an air raid alert, the exhibition will be closed and visitors must immediately go to a shelter located near the hangar.

Tickets will be sold exclusively online through Concert.ua, and their number will be regulated taking into account the security situation. In the first two days, the exhibition will operate in test mode according to a separate schedule.