Open-air archaeological museums are one of the promising directions in museum activities in Ukraine that is rapidly developing. Their main feature is the interactive nature of the exposition, which allows engaging visitors in the historical atmosphere of a certain period. One might use a non-scientific comparison as a portal in time and space.
Do you remember the iconic "Leap into the Past" by Czech scientists Malinova and Malinov? Since its release, generations of archaeology enthusiasts have marveled at the immersive experience of diving into the ancient world. Archaeologists dreamed to see their excavated sites, objects, and dwellings coming to life in the form of open-air museums.
In 2010, at Boryspil Airport, Kyiv archaeologists Oleksandr Koval and Anna Petrauskene met Roland Paardekooper, the secretary of the European Association of Experimental Archaeology Centers. He dedicated his visit to familiarizing himself with the developments in experimental archaeology in Ukraine and delivered lectures at scientific conferences. Regrettably, under no circumstances does a miracle happen: the country is not magically covered with a dense network of open-air museums and experimental archeology centers. In museum work, experimental archeology and classical excavations, linear development is not the standard practice. It is more of an exception. Nevertheless, something else begins; an approach, dialogue, and communication between the movement of experimental archaeology in our country and European centers start to form. EXARC has made significant contributions in this direction.
2023 is the second year of a dreadful war for Ukraine. In Rivne, at the practically fascinating open-air museum on the banks of the Ostvytsia River, an international scientific-practical seminar dedicated to ancient navigation and shipbuilding takes place. At the beginning of the seminar, the museum already presents a fleet of replicas of ancient boats of various types. I am confident that each of them is unequal in terms of execution and purpose. I believe that scientists and reenactors will scrutinize and critique them attentively. This is how it should be. I am just pleased that among these boats is a copy from the excavations of my expedition. Thanks to the master-reconstructors from Ostvytsia who crafted and tested its replica on the water, we managed to understand the functions of this particular type of boat with these parameters. The making of an experimental replica allowed us to revisit the understanding of the archaeological prototype of the boat, which is a crucial aspect of experimental archaeology.
It is challenging, very challenging, to justify why one should prepare and conduct a scientific seminar or conference dedicated to highly specific, academic questions when hospitals are overflowing with the wounded and killed, communities are being destroyed, villages and entire cities are being erased, and there is a shortage of everything on the front lines: medical supplies, gasoline, spare parts. People with meager salaries donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are needed so that we do not forget why we are fighting, so that we do not succumb to despair from what is happening, so that we can chart our course toward a future, see where we are heading. It is truly difficult for us. The event that took place in Ostvytsia on September 15-17, 2023, is a brilliantly organized scientific gathering that occurred at the highest organizational level, thanks to the conference organizers and our colleagues from the Roskilde Museum in Denmark, Trine Sørensen, and the European Association of Experimental Archaeology, Roeland Paardekooper.
