In Conversation: World Monuments Fund at the UIA

In Conversation: World Monuments Fund’s Dr. Kateryna Goncharova and Bénédicte de Montlaur discuss the organization’s ongoing efforts to document, restore and preserve cultural sites across Ukraine damaged or destroyed by Russian military actions.

Since the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, cultural heritage sites have been purposefully targeted across the country. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, 2,003 cultural heritage places and institutions have been damaged or destroyed, as of June 2024. These sites include landmarks, memorials, monuments, and places of worship and burial.

In this event, WMF Ukraine Heritage Crisis Specialist Kateryna Goncharova will explore the current state of heritage preservation and conservation in Ukraine, spotlighting several active projects, including the Teacher’s House in Kyiv and the Chernihiv Regional Library for Youth, and detail tactics for addressing both immediate and long-term needs of heritage sites across the country. Attendees will then be invited to participate in a Q&A moderated by WMF President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur.

While this event is free and open to the public,  we encourage you to support WMF’s Ukraine Heritage Response Fund.

Photo credit: Catherine’s Church, Chernihiv, Ukraine. Courtesy of Zoryana and Matviy Pohranychny (Heritage Monitoring Lab – HeMo).

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Kateryna Goncharova
Ukraine Heritage Crisis Specialist, WMF

Kateryna Goncharova previously served as a Head of the Research Department at the Ukrainian State Research and Project Institute for Historic Preservation; she has been involved with the preservation of architectural heritage and historical sites of Ukraine, including research, management, and scientific support of projects. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Goncharova also conducted research concerning the U.S. experience in historic preservation based on public-private partnership, community engagement, and neighborhood revitalization. She also managed and co-organized numerous projects on integrated urban development, civic participation, and evaluation of cultural heritage as a resource for strategic development. Kateryna Goncharova holds a Ph.D. in Museum and Monuments Studies from The Center of Monuments Research at the National Academy of Science (NAS) Ukraine and USPHCM.

Bénédicte de Montlaur
President and CEO, WMF

Bénédicte de Montlaur is President and CEO of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the world’s foremost private organization dedicated to saving extraordinary places while empowering the communities around them. She is responsible for defining WMF’s strategic vision, currently implementing that vision in more than 30 countries around the world and leading a team that spans the globe. Her background mixes culture and the arts, politics, international diplomacy, and human rights. Prior to joining WMF, Montlaur spent two decades working across three continents as a senior diplomat at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

About the Ukraine Heritage Respsonse Fund
With seed funding from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, World Monuments Fund’s (WMF) Ukraine Heritage Response Fund is supporting Ukrainian heritage professionals and providing supplies necessary to protect Ukrainian heritage places. Where safe to do so, WMF is also supporting the stabilization and rehabilitation of damaged structures. Looking to the future, we are preparing for post-conflict needs by building a strong foundation of financial support that can be deployed for conservation work at cultural heritage sites.

Support the Ukraine Heritage Response Fund
The Ukraine Heritage Response Fund was created with leadership support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. World Monuments Fund would also like to thank the other generous donors who have supported the Fund, including the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) and U.S. Embassy Kyiv; Cultural Emergency Response (CER) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands; Richard Lounsbery Foundation; Tianaderrah Foundation / Nellie and Robert Gipson; Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation; Flora Family Foundation; Christie’s; and other supporters.