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Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne  (1964) 
Ukraine's Tate and Pompidou centre combined - Mystetski Arsenal 
When Russian Empress Catherine the Great occupied Kyiv she needed a military base, and built the Arsenal. The building stayed in Moscow's hands under the Soviet Union and was part of the military base. It is a massive structure taking up an entire block, but it never appeared on Soviet maps. Ukrainians still don't know what went on in there, because as the Soviet Union collapsed the Soviet army took all of its archives from the time of Catherine back to Moscow.
It's therefore quite fitting that Ukraine has turned this monster into what potentially could be Europe's largest arts centre.

The Arsenal is now called Mystetskiy (or Arts) Arsenal https://artarsenal.in.ua/uk/ and hosts a series of exhibitions.  There is no permanent exhibition. Only a tiny fraction of the building has been restored but even that is a huge space.
Aresenal is opposite one of the top tourist sites in Kyiv - the Pechersk Lavra. You can recognise it by the tree of life sculpture doors at its entrance. Unusually for Ukrainian museums, Arsenal has a gift store and a great cafe that offers a selection of pies and fresh juices.

 What's your favourite arts space in Kyiv?




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