During One Night History Comes to Life...

May 19, 2018

During the evening of May 17^th and the night of May 18^th, museums change their schedules and open their doors at an unusual time of the day. For museum employees, it is an opportunity to use a new, non-standard arsenal of exhibits such as directing, scenography, musical accompaniment, and also to invite actors and once again combine everything in order to create a mystical atmosphere of history. The exact and successful combination of all well-known theatrical resources has been successfully working in conjunction with a traditional tour for the sixth time.

This year, the Museum of the National University of Ostroh Academy has invited its audience to "The Night at the Museum" in the company of heroes of the past centuries.

“Various historical events took place on the location of the recent university, so here were diverse people too. They were teachers, pupils, students, monks, priests who lived, worked, studied and taught here. All of them were here, dreaming, creating. Consequently, these rooms are witnesses of many fates and events,” commented an organizer and director of the Museum of History of the NUOA Anastasiia Kheleniuk.

Every year the Ostroh Academy is transformed into a labyrinth, in which the entrance and exit differ, so it is not known how the visitors will lead the steps of history. It is extremely important for organizers to present real emotions to guests, so the theme of the tour is not disclosed in advance, the visitors are divided into groups, each of them follows clearly defined paths that do not intersect or stop. This approach is designed in order to create pleasant memories and get emotional feedback.

This year's journey opened the history of the ancient catacombs that were forgotten and destroyed, and in which the ancient Capuchin monks used to live. The ghost of a royal soldier reminded visitors of the mysterious power of sepulture. About the facts of the construction of the first building on this place – the monastery – the guests learned from Prince Sanguszko and the Italian architect Paolo Fontana.

In the already consolidated monastery, some of the tourists tasted from the monk-pharmacist a mysterious oil that brought glory to the city in old days. When the impression of unexpected treats came to a halt, visitors could listen to a unique choral Greek singing by the pupils of the first girls' school in Volyn.

The next phase was a visit to the church, in which with the accompaniment of classical piano music the history of this building was performed. Then the guests of the tour visited the room of the old printed books, in which an inspired scientist shared his vision of the history of printing and showed interesting parts of the famous Ostroh Bible.

At the back of the modern building of the Ostroh Academy, the visitors were able to observe in the windows the events of the times of Soviet Ukraine. Inside, visitors could get to know how fast 23 years since the restoration of the Ostroh Academy had passed. On the retro-TV screens, the guests were able to watch rare records of the renaissance of the educational institution.

A special interest in this year's “Night at the Museum-2018” sparked a 3D holograms of Petro Andrukhov and Mykola Kovalskyi who were the legendary people standing at the beginnings of the revival of the Ostroh Academy, and made an invaluable contribution to the development of the leading Ukrainian classical university.

“I have recalled how the Academy looked like back in 1994. Once again, I have reconsidered the steps taken – only in a more secretive and, at the same time, advanced technical design. But most of all, I am glad that the citizens of Ostroh have come, people who can actually be proud of being the inhabitants of this city, which was bestowed with such a unique story by God,” a certain element of nostalgia was felt by the rector of the NUOA, professor Ihor Pasichnyk.

"The Night at the Museum" was visited not only by citizens of Ostroh, but also by guests from Rivne and others adjacent cities who wanted to understand the history of development and formation of their native land. They showed their children what the story of Ostroh is because they want their kids to see it with their own eyes and become concerned with it. I think that such a presentation of history is more impressive for understanding and more effective for remembering than one that is used in books”, shares her opinion a volunteer of the event, a second-year student of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic languages Alisa Dobronravova.