XOXM – WHO ARE WE?
The Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum (abbreviated as a brand name in Ukrainian– XOXM) is a unique museum institution that was the first post-Soviet museum in the days of independent Ukraine to choose an innovative collection concept: collecting, preserving, storing, researching, exhibiting and promoting Ukrainian contemporary art of the XX-XXI centuries.
XOXM is not just a museum in the academic sense. XOXM is a common cultural space, in the life of which not only museum specialists but also all interested creators and consumers of modern cultural products take an active part. With the status of a regional art museum, XOXM has always identified itself in a broader perspective: national and world art processes have a greater impact on its activities, policies and strategies than local art life. After all, in today’s globalized world, communications provide great opportunities to be not only aware, but also involved in the diversity of world cultures and worldviews.
We are proud of our inclusiveness and openness, as we strive to become a cultural center where diverse cultural, artistic, social, religious, ethnic, gender and political views are welcomed, and every personal history and experience is respected. Naturally, in the modern world, the role of art as a powerful source of creation of new values and common meanings grows and our museum takes a great part in this important civilization process.
HISTORY OF XOXM
The Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum is a relatively young cultural institution compared to other museums in Ukraine. The history of the museum is synchronized with the history of democratic changes in our country: it was founded on the basis of the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR №2 from 2.01.1986, ie during the first trends towards democratization of society. One year after the proclamation of the Independence of the Ukrainian state on August 30, 1992, the first museum of Ukrainian contemporary art in the history of independent Ukraine was opened to visitors (6 rooms, an art louge and an art hall with a total area of about 700 square meters).
XOXM is located on the main street of Khmelnytskyi in a building built in 1903 for the Proskuriv branch of the South Russian Industrial Bank in the so-called “brick style”, typical of Proskuriv in the late nineteenth – early twentieth century.
During the years of their activity, museum specialists managed to form an art collection thanks to the organization of exhibitions, festivals, actions, symposiums, art residences and planned purchases, which today is objectively an integral part of the history of Ukrainian art of the XX-XXI century. The museum collection is one of the most complete and representative in Ukraine (more than 7,000 works created by about 1,000 artists).
The challenges posed by the current era of rapid change have led to a critical reconsideration of the image of the museum as a socio-cultural institution, whose main mission is exclusively the preservation of tangible cultural heritage. Overcoming certain stages of institutional stagnation and economic depression, XOXM has established itself as a museum center and as a modern cultural platform, which with the change in 2017 of top management and staff is dynamically modernized.
MISSION OF XOXM
The mission of our art museum is to collect art objects and collect information related to art, to preserve and to protect artworks in depository and exhibition areas, their research, display, promotion and dissemination of information, comprehensive and reliable transfer of exhibits, archives and research for future generations. The scientific activity of the museum is carried out in the directions of collecting, exposition and educational work. Administrative and economic activities are aimed at maintaining and developing the infrastructural capacity of the XOXM.
As the first museum of contemporary Ukrainian art in the history of independent Ukraine, the core of its collection consists of works by prominent artists of the XX-XXI centuries, XOXM has a responsibility to the professional community and the community in adhering to the chosen strategy. This leads to the modernization of material and technical capacity, as well as the study, development and implementation of new methods and tools: financial diversification (increasing economic efficiency, partnership, fundraising, marketing, etc.), digitalization (collection digitization, online activity, SMM, etc.), curatorial and educational initiatives (problem-thematic conceptual exhibition projects, participatory practices, cross-cultural and social events, etc.), communication and dissemination of information (networking, modern methods of promotion and advertising, etc.).
Our mission is to share contemporary art with professionals and the general public as it brings together people with experience in many fields. Our ever-expanding and expanding art collection is a record of dynamic phenomena and events taking place locally and globally. We create a space for meetings, mutual inspiration and reflection. We go beyond art, but we are always inspired by it.
VISION OF XOXM
Museums of contemporary art have become a place where the dialogue between the spectator and the work of art, the spectator with the artist, the spectator with the spectator takes place – contemporary art comes to life and acquires new meanings together with the spectator. Here they gain new knowledge and experience, comprehend the local and global, help a wide audience to get to know and understand artists better. Contemporary art is a space of free artistic expression and dominance of philosophical concepts.
We see XOXM as a space of synergy, where creative ideas are generated, maintained and implemented, a relevant cultural product is produced, new forms and methods are provided, experiences are exchanged, non-formal education is received and partnerships are established to promote the the following innovative art projects – both in the museum and initiated by XOXM outside it. Building three-level relationships – emotional, functional, ideological – with each contact audience, each reference person for the permanent identification of XOXM as a platform for the joint creation of modern culture in the process of interaction. Maintaining a balance between the longevity of traditions and futurism, determining and responding to the course of events.
