Flashlights instead of lighting and recharging zones for visitors to Ukrainian museums

Cultural institutions across Ukraine are forced to adapt daily to power cuts and heating interruptions, but most of them try not to stop working. Museums organise events when there is electricity or using backup power sources, create spaces for charging gadgets, and sometimes conduct tours with flashlights — all to preserve people's access to culture while keeping their collections safe.

Here is what museum employees from different cities told Suspilne Culture.

The National Museum of Ukrainian History (Kyiv) operates according to the city's power outage schedule and welcomes visitors even without electricity. Some tours are conducted with flashlights, and charging stations are turned on when necessary. The biggest challenge is controlling the temperature in the storage facilities and the limited capacity of the backup power supply for long periods.

The DCCC in Dnipro reports longer power outages, cold temperatures in the premises (3–6°C in some places) and a reduction in exhibition hours to a few hours a day when the power schedule coincides with working hours. Some events had to be postponed, and the team is now focusing more on planning and grant applications.

The National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv) is open to visitors three days a week and uses backup power stations during outages. The halls are cool, so people are asked to remain in their outer clothing; the museum monitors visitor comfort and is considering the return of some formats (lectures/films) after assessing the conditions.

The Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum has not been accepting visitors offline since 2023 (by decision of the Regional Defence Council), but instead is actively working online, holding events in safe locations, and focusing on digitising its collections and supporting the evacuation of museum collections in the region.

The Territory of Terror Museum (Lviv) continues to operate thanks to generators, charging stations and stove heating. Despite the cold and power outages, the museum maintains its event calendar and attracts interns.

The Odessa National Art Museum has a generator and several charging stations, and has also set up a free space, which the team calls the "recharging zone," where you can charge your gadgets, warm up, and relax. The museum has reduced the working day by one hour and continues to offer tours and events on weekends.

The War Museum (Kyiv) has largely maintained its operating hours, but cannot fully provide lighting in the main building — tours are often conducted with flashlights. The most difficult issue is heating, so employees have a more flexible schedule.

Due to the deterioration of conditions, the Dovzhenko Centre (Kyiv) has cancelled its Saturday educational/tour programmes for January and has partially switched to remote work due to the cold in the offices (around 5°C), while working with film and receiving films has become more difficult due to power cuts and low temperatures.

museums of Ukraine, blackout, power outages, generators, charging stations, flashlight tours, preservation of collections, storage facilities, temperature, culture during wartime