Viktoriia Myronenko

This project builds on Viktoriia Myronenko’s previous work salvaging and studying the unique photo archive of Ukrainian cinematographer Leonid Burlaka. In 2024, a second, previously unknown part of his archive was discovered in Odesa, containing both severely damaged and partially preserved materials that require urgent protection.

The project aims to research, systematize, and digitize this new collection, while documenting the entire preservation process through a short documentary video. By examining how wartime conditions shape archival survival and public access, the project will deepen our understanding of visual memory under threat.

For the last five years I have been working on researching the photo archive of the Ukrainian cinematographer Leonid Burlaka. The basis of the research is a unique photo archive (about 500 films) of the outstanding Ukrainian cinematographer Leonid Burlaka, director of photography of the famous film The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979), and author of more than 40 distribution and about 20 television films. These photo films are the only example of a holistically preserved photo archive, which illustrates various spheres of life in Ukraine from the 1960s to the 1990s and has not only historical, but also artistic value. The importance of the project stems from the fact that the archive is  part of a large-scale interdisciplinary project that includes the documentary film Fragile Memory (2022) (https://burlakafilms.com/fragilememory), scientific research, archive exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad (Krakow Film Festival, 2019; Odessa International Film Festival, 2019) and publication of a photo book as the final result.