Ceremonial promotion of the audio guide in the Ukrainian language

On Tuesday, December 17, the Krapina Neanderthal Museum held a ceremonial promotion of the Ukrainian language audio guide as part of the Ukrainian Language in World Museums initiative.

The attendees were greeted by the director of the Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje Jurica Sabol, and the guests of the ceremonial event were also addressed via video call by the initiator of the project, the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. The promotion was attended by numerous distinguished guests, including Nina Kirilič, wife of Vasyl Kirilič, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Croatia, State Secretary Dražena Vrselja (on behalf of the Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Koržinek), and the President of the City Council Mladen Gregurović on behalf of the City of Krapina. The musical part of the program was provided by the Ukrainian artist Ana Del.

The Krapina Neanderthal site Hušnjakovo is of global significance and, together with the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, occupies an important place in the story of the evolution of life on Earth and the scientific interpretation of human development, a topic that arouses the interest of almost every individual, regardless of age, gender or place of residence. Of the approximately 140 thousand visitors who visit the permanent exhibition of the Krapina Neanderthal Museum annually, a fifth are guests from different countries of the world. Foreign visitors have the opportunity to visit the permanent exhibition with a professional tour guide in English, but also independently, using an audio guide that, for 70 minutes, introduces the person to 18 thematic units presented in the Krapina museum in an interesting way. Until recently, the audio guide was available in eight world languages ​​– Croatian, English, German, Slovenian, Italian, French, Czech and Hungarian, and this year an audio recording in Ukrainian was also implemented.

In recent years, due to the severe war in Ukraine and Croatia's readiness to provide humanitarian and technical assistance, Croatia has accepted and cared for a large number of displaced people from Ukraine. The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Croatia, among other things, pays great attention to cultural cooperation. The valuable programs implemented by Croatian museums are a good example of providing support to the Ukrainian population in Croatia, and by the decision of the Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Ukrainians in Croatia are also provided with free entry to all state museums. Spurred by the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska to enable cultural institutions around the world to use audio guides in the Ukrainian language, the Krapina Neanderthal Museum is the first Croatian museum to do so. The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Croatia translated the existing text of the Krapina Museum's audio guide into Ukrainian, and an excellent French production implemented the audio recording.

In 2024, 130 people from Ukraine visited the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, which, thanks to this valuable project, will now be able to experience it in a better and more vivid way using an audio guide.