Now a year into this program, the pair continue to look for new interest in the language track. Enter Robbie Abel ‘24, the Jones Memorial Digital Media Fellow at Dartmouth Libraries, and a recent student of Lada’s class Ukrainian Dreams After Communism. When Robbie learned of the new language program, he offered to create video trailers to promote the classes to new students. This outreach sparked a growing collaboration between the classes and Dartmouth Libraries, culminating in an exhibition at the Hood Museum.

Titled, “Impermanent Collection: Ukraine’s Museums under Attack,” this exhibition sought to document Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian museums and cultural sites, with Dartmouth students researching and curating the work. Students of both UKRA 11: Intensive Ukrainian and UKRA 27: Intermediate Ukrainian were paired with their peers at Ternopil Technical University, supervised by Professor Lesia Nazarevych, throughout the term. This partnership meant Dartmouth students could practice their Ukrainian language conversation skills; and, in turn, the Ukrainian students helped facilitate research on the damaged museums, interviews with museum curators based in Ukraine, and aid in translations. 

Dartmouth students were tasked with researching one museum each, and creating a video combining photos of the collections, interviews with the curators, and showcasing the destruction caused by the war. To assist in this process, both classes worked in Jones Media Center under the instruction of Susan Simon and Robbie. They led video editing workshops and helped piece together the final product.

With technical support provided by John Bell from the Data Experiences and Visualizations Studio, the exhibit opened at the Hood Museum on November 14. “Impermanent Collection,” designed by Karina Madzari GR ‘24, showcased the final video projects, an interactive map, and slideshows. The launch welcomed Dartmouth professors, fellow students, and community members. In special attendance via Zoom were the Ukrainian students and museum curators who helped make “Impermanent Collection” possible. They offered moving remarks, along with Dartmouth students. Some students shared their impetus for taking the classes, some spoke about their connections to Ukraine, and all focused on the timeliness and importance of this project. 

For Annabelle Pietryka ‘26, a student in UKRA 11, they reflected on how Russia justified its “relentless assault” by claiming there is “no Ukrainian way of life or culture, that it’s all Russian.” They continued by stating how “Impermanent Collection” proves that wrong and demonstrated why projects like this one are so important.

Victoria offered insight on their commitment to future projects like these as a vehicle to spotlight Ukraine. “While our exhibition featured ten damaged [Ukrainian] museums, there are hundreds of cultural sites in Ukraine that have been damaged or completely destroyed by Russia’s war. Our goal is to document and present as many of these sites as possible, both to highlight Ukrainian culture and to emphasize the existential threat it now faces.” They plan to “continue recording the stories of Ukrainian curators and other museum workers who risked their lives to protect these collections. Their accounts are an essential part of wartime oral history.”

Although this exhibit was only shown for a limited time, in the Hood, student Asa Berry ‘28 noted that “this exhibit is permanent, and as long as there is such thing as electricity, internet, and data, people can see this history and learn from it.” Collaborative partnerships are a crucial way our Libraries colleagues share their expertise, and can expand projects such as these into new mediums and audiences. Though the physical manifestation of “Impermanent Collection” is no longer on display, you can view the results of these students’ research by watching their documentaries online.