We invite you to the world of Ukrainian metros. Here the themes of infrastructure, archaeology and places of safety are intertwined. The exhibition is shown in Ukrainian underground stations and finally found its way into the mythical Lviv metro.
The exhibition takes place in two locations. In the Municipal Art Center (Stefanyka, 11) you will learn about the archaeological heritage of all Ukrainian cities where metros exist. In the Center for Urban Mobility (Bandery, 24) we will uncover the secrets of the Lviv metro: its map, myth, archaeological artifacts and sounds.
The exhibition of the virtual museum “Our Underground” was created by the NGO “Union of Archaeologists of Ukraine” and is currently on display in the underground stations of the Ukrainian metro. We invite you to visit the project website.
The “Our Underground” project creates a virtual “underground museum” that makes cultural heritage visible, accessible, and at the same time protected. In conditions when the metro has become a shelter for millions of Ukrainians, “Our Underground” transforms this space from a place of physical security into a source of new knowledge, a space for learning, education, and reflection.
The goal of the initiative is to popularize Ukrainian history and culture by transforming metro stations and shelters into spaces of education and national resilience in the face of a full-scale war.
“Our Underground” is a virtual museum linked to the stations of the Ukrainian metro in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, as well as to public locations in Lviv, where the metro is part of the urban legend. The project involves placing information posters with QR codes at metro stations, which lead to an expanded online platform. By following the QR code, passengers gain access to a virtual exhibition dedicated to the archaeology and history of the area where they are. Each object has a short history, photo, map and descriptions of personalities that reveal the depth of the history of the city and its “subsoil”. Posters with QR codes are already available on all three metro lines and 20 stations of the Kyiv metro.
The “Our Underground ” project is implemented by the NGO “Union of Archaeologists of Ukraine” with the support of the Canadian Foundation for Local Initiatives (CFLI) in partnership with the Kyiv Metropolitan Municipality