Karazin University as a Cultural Hub

Karazin University offers opportunities for comprehensive cultural and artistic enrichment.

The Center for Contemporary Art “Yermilov Center”, located in the University Main Building, is glad to receive visitors. The Center was opened in March 2012. It is named after Vasyl Yermilov, a famous Kharkiv artist, representative of the Ukrainian avant-garde. The largest exhibition space in Kharkiv represents modern Ukrainian art processes. Among its priorities are an artistic dialogue with the audience and international cooperation. The Yermilov Center's activities include curatorial projects, art residencies, lectures and discussions, performances, seminars, films and video installations.

Henryk Siemiradzki Art Gallery is a large cultural center that gives its visitors the opportunity to connect with beauty. Immediately after the University’s opening, its founder V. N. Karazin initiated drawing classes, having purchased in St. Petersburg a collection of almost 2,500 engravings by Western European artists. The collection was the first in Kharkiv, even contemporaries said it was quite rare. And when the collection was replenished with gifts from the University alumni — paintings by Italian artists of the 16th-18th centuries — the Museum of Fine Arts and Antiquities opened its doors to Kharkiv residents and guests of the city. The 1920s were turbulent years for the University: it was reorganized — most Schools became separate higher education institutions, and the unique collection became the foundation of Kharkiv Art Museum. However, Karazin University cares about preserving traditions: in 2015, a charity auction was held in support of wounded ATO fighters — benefactors donated to the University purchased paintings by famous artists, which started the revival of the gallery. The exhibition area opened on the birthday of the famous Polish artist, a graduate of the University, Henryk Siemiradzki and was named after him. You can see here not only paintings by renowned artists and young authors in various styles and genres, but also the finest specimens of decorative and applied arts, photographs, musical instruments of the peoples of the world, pottery, embroideries, and more. It is a large cultural center that gives you the opportunity to connect with beauty.

The State Museum of Nature of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is a large scientific and educational center of Ukraine and one of the oldest museums in Europe. The Museum is engaged in exhibition, research, educational activity, promotes the importance of scientific and environmental knowledge. The Museum scientific collections currently contain more than 250,000 exhibits from around the world. In 23 museum rooms, there are four expositions: Geological, Invertebrates and Vertebrates, Organic World Evolution, and Nature Conservation. The Museum of Nature maintains contacts with many scientific institutions and museums of the world. Every year, about 40,000 city residents, tourists, foreign guests, scientists and experts in various fields of knowledge come to see the expositions.

The Museum of Archeology of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is almost as old as the University. The University Charter of 1804 laid the foundations for archeological research and creation of a collection of antiquities at Kharkiv University. The Museum has the permanent exposition “The Contribution of the University Scientists to the Development of Archaeology”. Every three-four months, temporary exhibitions open, presenting objects both from the collections of the Museum of Archeology and from other museums of Kharkiv and the region. In March 2018, together with the Institute of Archeology of Ukraine and the Union of Archeologists of Ukraine, the Museum held the first All-Ukrainian Children's Conference “Archeologium”. The new exhibition room of the Museum receives annually more than 15,000 visitors, including honorary foreign delegations and high-ranking officials of the country.

Another landmark of Karazin University is the University History Museum. Founded in 1972, it is one of the first university museums in our city. The exposition of the Museum will immerse you in an atmosphere of the University's past, and the Museum guides will lead you along the paths of long and fascinating history of our Alma Mater. Every year, the Museum is visited by almost 4,000 students, senior pupils, participants of international and national conferences, Kharkiv residents and guests of the city. Among the Museum’s guests are the leaders of the city and region, representatives of other educational institutions, foreign organizations and embassies of about 40 countries. Today, the Museum collections contain about 19,000 core exhibits, as well as 10,000 photo negatives that cover the history of Kharkiv University.

This year, on the occasion of the 215th anniversary of the University, the renovated and reconstructed Mykola Barabashov Museum of Astronomy was opened. The history of astronomy at Karazin University goes back over 200 years. The Museum possesses a collection of unique astronomical and geodetic instruments from the early 19th century to the present. This makes it possible to study the formation and development of astronomy in Kharkiv, Ukraine and the world. The peculiarity of the exposition is that it was created in the pavilion of the Repsold Meridian Circle — the largest instrument in the collection — and has an underground floor. Thus, visitors can become familiar with the peculiarities of astronomical observations and the telescope design.

The Landau Center is also worth mentioning. It was established in January 2014 at the initiative of the University community and the Association of Alumni, Faculty and Friends of the University. Its purpose is to stimulate the revival of interest in science (especially among young people) and to establish a unique university center of intellectual leisure for Kharkiv residents and guests of the city.

We are sure that you will get unforgettable impressions during visits to cultural institutions of Karazin University.