First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska has announced the launch of three more Ukrainian-language audio guides in the world's leading museums. The project already has 54 audio tours in Ukrainian.
Audio guides in Ukrainian have appeared in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Lithuania), the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood (Estonia), and the Uluwatu Temple (Indonesia).
Zelenska personally joined the launch of the audio guide in Lithuania via video link from Kyiv and presented the tour together with First Lady of Lithuania Diana Nausėdienė.
"This will be the word of the homeland for our temporary migrants until they can return home. For our Lithuanian friends, brothers and sisters, let Ukrainian sound like the language of courage and indomitability, of our common values," the wife of the President of Ukraine said.
The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is a building reconstructed at the beginning of the 21st century, which is considered the largest restoration project of independent Lithuania. The National Museum is located in the palace. It is a site for displaying archaeological artifacts and the works of restorers.
In the Republic of Lithuania, the project of launching Ukrainian audio guides under the patronage of the wife of the President of Ukraine is being implemented for the second time – the first bus sightseeing tours in Vilnius and along the Vilnius - Trakai route were in Ukrainian.
The Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood was chosen as the first Estonian cultural institution in which Ukrainian will be heard because it has become a leader among museums according to the feedback of residents and guests of the capital of Estonia. The audio guide was presented by Director of the museum Catherine Lapinsh who spoke about the intention, together with the Kyiv National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, to organize an exhibition of Ukrainian orders in Tallinn, as well as to prepare a joint edition of the catalog of state awards of Ukraine.
Uluwatu Temple, located in the southwestern part of Bali, on the Bukit Peninsula, was founded in the 10th century and is one of the most famous Hindu shrines in the region. Until the beginning of the 20th century, only members of the royal family could visit Uluwatu. In view of the traditionally mass targeted tourism from Ukraine to the island of Bali, where about 6,000 Ukrainian citizens live permanently, the Embassy of Ukraine in Indonesia prepared the launch of Ukrainian audio narration at this popular tourist location.
Implementation of the project to create audio guides in Ukrainian at museums of the world at the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine began in 2020. It is actively developing to support the Ukrainian language and Ukrainians who ended up in different countries due to the war. Audio guides in Ukrainian are already available in 35 countries.
"After the Russian attack, our pre-war project to introduce audio guides no longer has tourist content. While Russia speaks through destruction, we will speak to the world and each other through culture, history, values – material and spiritual," Zelenska said.