The Museum “Memory of the Jewish People and the Holocaust in Ukraine,” a leading cultural and historical institution of the Jewish Community of Dnipro, hosted the grand opening of the international cultural project “Jerusalem – Dnipro. From A to Z.” The exhibition, created through the joint efforts of the Embassy of the State of Israel in Ukraine, the “NATIV” Israeli Cultural Center in Ukraine, the Honorary Consul of the State of Israel in the Western Region of Ukraine Oleg Vishnyakov, and the Jewish Museum of Dnipro, marked a new stage in the cultural dialogue between Israel and Ukraine, realized within a contemporary artistic space.
At the heart of the project lies an artistic dialogue between Ukrainian cities and the great spiritual capital of the world—Jerusalem—revealing their special connection and, at times, unexpected facets of cultural and spiritual interaction. Similar artistic dialogues have already taken place between Jerusalem and Kyiv, Chernivtsi, and Odesa, and now the capital of the Jewish State is engaging in a cultural dialogue with a city that has often been called the Jerusalem of the Diaspora.
The Israeli portion of the exhibition, prepared by the “City Cat” art foundation, presents an original digital interpretation of Jerusalem’s most famous sites in a distinctive gold-toned design, creating an artistic allusion both to the song “Yerushalayim shel Zahav” and to the sun-drenched architectural volumes clad in beautiful Jerusalem stone. The Ukrainian portion was created by artist Vanda Orlova, founder of the artistic movement “Solarism” and the “Art Fine Nation” agency, who offered her own perspective on Dnipro’s cultural code, arranging the objects in alphabetical order—relying not so much on formal spelling rules as on the distinctive Dnipro pronunciation of the names of iconic places and phenomena. A special place in the exhibition is occupied by works by Ukrainian artist Olga Shypelyk, who dedicated her pieces to the history of the Land of Israel and the spiritual meaning of human life.
У церемонії відкриття взяли участь голова представництва «НАТІВ» в Україні, радник Посольства Держави Ізраїль в Україні Марк Довев, заступник міського голови Дніпра Володимир Міллер, директор Єврейської громади Дніпра Зеліг Брез, керівники підрозділів Дніпровської міської ради, представники дипломатичного корпусу, єврейських організацій та громадськості міста, а також художники й організатори проєкту. Директорка Музею, кандидатка історичних наук, докторка Ірина Радченко наголосила на особливій важливості реалізації міжнародних культурних проєктів саме сьогодні, коли і Україна, і Ізраїль переживають непрості часи, а збереження культурного діалогу набуває особливого значення.
A special atmosphere was added to the ceremony by the speech of Mark Dovev, Head of the “NATIV” Representation in Ukraine, for whom the exhibition’s opening in Dnipro was a deeply personal event.
“It is a great honor for me to open the exhibition ‘Jerusalem – Dnipro. From A to Z’ here in Dnipro today,” said Mark Dovev, Head of the “NATIV” Representation in Ukraine and Advisor to the Embassy of the State of Israel in Ukraine. “Dnipro is my hometown. It is from here that I once left for Israel, and many years later, my diplomatic tenure in Ukraine began right here. Returning here with such a project means bringing to my home, as it were, the treasures of two worlds that have always been connected to each other. A special symbol of this connection is the Jewish Community of Dnipro. It is not just one of the strongest and most dynamic communities in Europe—it is a living heart that bridges Israel and Ukraine, where deep faithfulness to tradition is combined with creative energy and the inspired leadership of the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki. I hope that this exhibition will help every visitor feel the living dialogue between Jerusalem and Dnipro, touch the shared memory of our peoples, and feel the warmth of home.”
The exhibition “Jerusalem – Dnipro. From A to Z” will be on display at the Museum “Memory of the Jewish People and the Holocaust in Ukraine” in the Menorah cultural and business center until August 27, offering residents and visitors of the city the opportunity to explore a contemporary artistic perspective on the spiritual and historical heritage of Jerusalem and Dnipro, as well as another vivid example of international cultural cooperation, which continues to develop thanks to the united and cohesive Jewish Community of Dnipro under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.
