By Rostyslav Averchuk
Lviv, Ukraine, 1 nov (EFE).- Despite the ever-present threat of destructive Russian missile and drone strikes, an international team of restorers braves the danger and continues their meticulous work to preserve Lviv’s unique architectural and artistic heritage, protected by UNESCO.
With careful and confident movements, Olena Savchuk works with a scalpel on a 16th-century sculpture of John the Baptist that was removed from a building on Lviv’s main square.
Restorers often use the same tools as surgeons and dentists, and Savchuk and her colleagues sometimes use parallels to the human body to describe their work.
“I associate restoration with medicine because each object, like each patient, is very different,” Savchuk explains.
The effects of war
According to UNESCO, the historic city of Lviv, which is included in the list of World Heritage in Danger, is an outstanding example of the fusion of the architectural and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe with those of Italy and Germany.
Like a human body, the stone of its buildings and statues could be exposed to the effects of the elements, inadequate treatment or violence over the centuries.
The meticulous and patient work of the restorers, which often takes years, stands in stark contrast to what a single missile can do, bringing down entire buildings in seconds.
The team has yet to complete the restoration of the top of the tower of the former Benedictine monastery in Lviv, which was interrupted by the full-scale invasion.
As the first Russian missiles landed in February 2022, restorers rushed to cover sculptures in the city center with makeshift protection against indirect hits.
Frequent air-raid alarms made it difficult to continue work on the tower because of the need to climb up and down the scaffolding, Savchuk notes.
Some team members sought safety outside the country while funding for the project remained in limbo due to uncertainty and risk.
The risk of Russian missile or drone strikes is far from the only challenge the team faces, as two members have joined the army, and their experience and skills are sorely missed.
Defying the danger
The work has since been renewed thanks to the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture, which is helping to preserve the heritage of the city, which was part of the Polish Kingdom for hundreds of years.
“It is important to retain experienced restorers in the profession, not to let years of cooperation go to waste, and to continue working for our common future,” says Ania Kudzia, a Polish restorer and team leader.
Quality restoration takes a lot of money and time, but in the years before the full-scale invasion, interest in the field in Ukraine had grown rapidly, Kudzia says.
Lviv attracted many specialists, as the city retained a special charm and historical originality that had been lost in some other European cities, she said.
By continuing to work during the invasion, her team wants to encourage foreign colleagues to return, Kudzia notes.
“We are not going to run away. This is our way of saying no to this war,” she insists. EFE
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