A unique show at Khanenko Museum, opening three years after a Russian missile hit, is inspiring Ukrainians to think about art and empire in new ways

On a quiet street in central Kyiv, where monuments are wrapped in sandbags and shrapnel shields, the Khanenko Museum has opened an exhibition about Africa. Its title, Africa Direct, is a statement and a method: a call to approach the continent not through inherited filters (Soviet, colonial, or western) but through direct engagement with its histories, philosophies and living cultures.

The museum, which holds one of the most distinguished private collections of the 19th century in eastern Europe, was badly damaged when a Russian missile struck nearby in October 2022. Windows and show cases were shattered and the glass ceiling collapsed. Yet the museum’s collections were unharmed: Byzantine icons, Islamic artwork, and old master paintings had already been secured, some of them safely evacuated to partner institutions in Paris, Vilnius, Warsaw and The Hague. But the museum did not close. Its staff kept the institution open, empty but active, organising lectures, readings, and mental health workshops with the neighbouring hospital. Some of the glass fragments were later turned into brooches by a local goldsmith, offered as a sign of endurance to guests and friends.