- January 29, 2026
- 8:22 pm
- Ukraine
On January 27, 2026, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the exhibition “In Search of Lost Meaning. Matvey Weisberg” opened at the Ukrainian House in Kyiv. The project was created as a joint initiative of the Ukrainian House and the National Historical and Memorial Reserve “Babyn Yar”.
The exhibition is declared as an attempt to talk about the Holocaust and the tragedy of Babyn Yar not only through historical memory but also through the experience of contemporary violence — as a common existential challenge to the human ability to remain human when the world is collapsing.
What the exhibition tells about
The project is built on a combination of different formats. The central place is occupied by the paintings of Matvey Weisberg, but the exhibition also includes:
texts and eyewitness testimonies;
archival film materials;
musical works.
It is specifically emphasized that among the musical materials, the first symphony about the Holocaust by composer Dmitry Klebanov is played.
According to the organizers’ idea, this “multilayered” approach should help to talk about the Holocaust and Babyn Yar with a wider audience — without simplifications, but also not confined to a narrow circle of specialists.
Who attended the opening
The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of government bodies, the diplomatic corps, the cultural environment, and public organizations.
Among the participants, Deputy Head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Rabbi Raphael Rutman is specifically mentioned.
Welcome speeches were addressed to the guests by:
Elena Kovalskaya;
Ivan Verbitsky;
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ukraine Michael Brodsky;
Boris Zabarko — head of the Association of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners, Holocaust survivor.
During the speeches, accents were also made by the heads of the project’s institutions: General Director of the NIMZ “Babyn Yar” Rosa Tapanova and Director of the Ukrainian House Olga Vieru noted that joint work on the project expands the conversation about the Holocaust, and the exhibition itself, despite the heavy theme, carries a sense of hope.
A special moment of the ceremony
One of the key episodes of the opening was the performance of the prayer song “Eli, Eli” by the Choir of the Honored Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
When and where to visit
The exhibition will be open:
from January 28 to February 15, 2026
location: Ukrainian House, Kyiv
time: Tue–Sun 11:00–19:00, Monday — closed
Who is Matvey Weisberg
Matvey (Matviy) Semyonovich Weisberg is a Ukrainian artist of Jewish origin, painter, graphic artist, and book artist. He was born on December 28, 1958, in Kyiv, lives and works in Kyiv. The source states that he studied at the Ukrainian Academy of Printing, and also graduated from the Republican Art School named after T. G. Shevchenko and the book graphics department of the Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute named after Ivan Fedorov (1985).
Since the early 1980s, he has presented his paintings, and since the late 1980s, he has participated in group exhibitions in Ukraine (outside the events of the Union of Artists) and abroad. His first solo exhibition took place in 1990 at the Museum of the History of Podil. Subsequently, he participated in more than 50 solo and group projects in Ukraine and beyond.
Among the influences in the biographical description are Georges Rouault and Chaim Soutine (as well as other artists are mentioned). Weisberg regularly turns to biblical themes — from the “Days of Creation” to the plots of the Book of Job and scenes from the Tanakh.
In 2014, he created a painting series “The Wall”, inspired by the events of the Maidan in Kyiv in 2013–2014; later, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine, his works included wartime series, including the graphic “Road Diary” and painting cycles “Thin Red Line” and “Caravan”.
Matvey Weisberg’s works are in museums and private collections in Ukraine and abroad — including in Italy, Germany, the USA, the UK, Israel, and other countries.
For the Israeli audience, this exhibition resonates particularly sharply: the memory of the Holocaust here is not a “museum date,” but a living lens through which Babyn Yar, the current experience of war, and the conversation about what makes people human in a shattered world are read. NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency records such cultural events not as a “poster,” but as part of a general conversation about memory, responsibility, and the future. We will follow the continuation of the project and the public’s reaction in Kyiv.
