The contributing institutions in both countries have many objects in their collections that have become highly relevant in a changing world. The exhibition will be based on collaborative research across national borders and between institutions in each country.

– Russia’s attempts to erase Ukraine’s national identity and cultural heritage make it imperative to shed light on Ukraine’s history, based on scientific research and through collaboration between scholars and institutions in both countries. The exhibition is an exciting opportunity to do just that and to highlight periods when Ukraine’s and Sweden’s paths crossed through, for example, trade, settlement, and political and diplomatic relations. We are delighted to contribute to this collaborative research and exhibition, says Maria Söderberg, chair of the Torsten Söderberg Foundation.

The National Defense History Museums with Director General Helene Rånlund and Fabian Arnheim Head of the Army Museum, the Swedish National Archives with National Archivist Karin Åström Iko, and the National Museum of the History of Ukraine during World War II with Director General Yurii Savchuk - are coordinating the preparation of the exhibition Crossroads. Collaboration with several significant actors in both countries, such as the State Historical Museums and the National Museum of Ukrainian History, will lead to new knowledge about the crossroads of Ukraine and Sweden and about individual objects, including the Army Museum's fan collection, which is one of the largest in the world, of which around 100 banners are Ukrainian.

The exhibition Crossroads: Sweden-Ukraine through 1000 years opens on February 22, 2024 at the Army Museum in Stockholm.

Read more about the exhibition.

In addition, the Torsten Söderberg Foundation is funding a research project at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm led by Associate Professor Fedir Androshchuk, Director of the National Museum of Ukrainian History, which examines Sweden and Ukraine in the history of museum collections and exhibition narratives.

The top photo shows Filip Orlik's Constitution of 1710, one of Ukraine's most important documents and now in the National Archives. The photographer is Johanna Fries Markiewicz, Head of the National Archives' Preservation and Conservation Unit and involved in the Crossroads exhibition.