The International Convention Center "Ukrainian House" ( uk, Український дім. Міжнародний конгрес-центр) is the largest international exhibition and

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Popularly referred to as just "Ukrainian House", this five-storey building is the host venue for a variety of events from exhibitions, trade fairs and conferences to international association meetings, product launches, banquets, TV-ceremonies, sporting events, etc.

Location

Ukrainian House is situated on 2 Khreshchatyk Street, overlooking European Square in the heart of the Ukrainian capital. The rear of the center adjoins the southern outskirts of the

Volodymyrska Hill Volodymyrska Hill or Saint Volodymyr Hill ( uk, Володимирська гірка, ''"Volodymyrska hirka"'') is a large park located on the steep right-bank of the Dnieper River, Dnipro River in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Its most ...

Park. The building is not far from the main square of the country - Maidan (Independence Square), as well as Dnipro Hotel, Khreschatyk Hotel and

Hotel Ukraine Hotel Ukraine ( ua, Готель Україна), also referred to as Hotel Ukrayina, is a four-star hotel located in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was built in 1961 as the Hotel "Moscow" in a location which originally was occupied by ...

. Visitors can easily reach Ukrainian House by any public transport including the

Kyiv Metro The Kyiv Metro ( uk, Ки́ївський метрополіте́н, Kyivskyi metropoliten, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv that is owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivsky Metropoliten''.'' It was initi ...

. On-site parking space is also available. All major attractions of the city are within a walking distance from the center such as Independence Square, St.Sophia’s Cathedral, Michael’s Golden Dome Monastery, Andrew’s Street (Uzviz) with souvenirs, and numerous shopping centers, fine restaurants and hotels.

History and use

Built in 1978–1982, this monumental building was originally erected as a Kyiv affiliate of the All-Union Lenin Museum, displaying materials documenting

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

's life. The building was designed and built by the "Chief Kyiv Project" architects group led by Vadym Hopkalo, with assistance by Vadym Hrechyna, Volodymyr Kolomiyets, and Leonid Filenko. In 1985 the authors of the project received the Shevchenko State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR. Since 1938 the Kyiv city exhibition of the All-Union Lenin Museum was located in Teacher House at 57 Volodymyr Street. The museum was moved to the Ukrainian House building when it was opened in 1982, where it remained until after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. On April 2, 1993, the building was renamed and converted to a conference and exhibition hall. The Lenin museum exhibition was dismounted and placed into storage funds. In 2004 the entire collection of the Museum of the History of Kyiv was moved from its location at the

Klov Palace The Klov Palace ( uk, Кловський палац) is the seat of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in Kyiv. The building takes its name from Klov, a neighbourhood of Pechersk District. The Baroque residence was constructed between 1752 and 1756 wi ...

to the fourth and fifth floor of Ukrainian House, where much of the collection remains to this day.

Operations today

Today, the Government company ''National Center of Business and Cultural Cooperation "Ukrainian House"'' (part of the State Management of Affairs agency) owns the structure and arranges concerts, cultural festivals, local

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

s, conventions,

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

s, symposiums etc. Ukrainian House has 5 storeys with fully flexible spaces and halls to fit any needs from small private meetings to large-scale gatherings for up to 3,500 participants. It has all the necessary facilities from conference halls, exhibition spaces and auditoriums to an on-site restaurant and outdoor terraces. In August 2016 the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-era

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s was removed from the building to comply with decommunization laws.

Euromaidan protests

Ukrainian House was taken over in December 2013 by the Berkut special police forces during the

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

protests. There were claims that the Berkut unit ransacked the building and possibly pilfered some of the museum collection. On the 25th of January 2014 the House was besieged by

protesters. After a long confrontation the police launched a counterattack on the main barricades and many retreated in order to secure the barricades but a number stayed. At around 11pm GMT a truce was called where no side attacked each other. A long bout of negotiation followed. The final result being the 200 police officers still inside leaving through a side window.Ukraine crisis: Mourning in Kiev while protests spread
BBC News. 26 January 2014. Accessed 27 January 2014. When the Euromaidan protestors gained control over Ukrainian House, it provided a community shelter for fellow civilians and protestors who were engaging in the revolution. The Ukraine House center provides free legal advice, a place to sleep, medical care, travel information, and psychiatric help. With all the chaos that was happening during this struggle, one couple, Viktor Bisovetskyi and his wife, Inna, joined the occupants of the building and opened a library during this anti-government movement known as Euromaidan. Since most of the space was occupied, the couple found room in the corner of the basement. There, countless librarians, friends, and civilians donated books, travel guides, magazines and philosophy texts to this library. As of late March 2014 and the Crimean crisis and masked Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian House is acting as a base for the "Self-defense of the Maidan", one of the major

militias. It is also currently an assembly area and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

coordination site for the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; uk, Націона́льна гва́рдія Украї́ни, Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, , ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and Internal Troops, internal military force. It is part of the Minist ...

References

External links