A Ukrainian-language audio guide has been launched at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, the Republic of South Africa. This was announced by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
The museum preserves the history of the struggle for justice and equality during the apartheid regime of racial segregation in the territory of modern South Africa.
“Who better than Ukrainians could understand such a painful past, while enduring their own struggle for life and the right to it today,” the President’s wife emphasized.
This audio guide is the hundredth in the project to introduce Ukrainian-language audio tours at major cultural landmarks around the world, implemented under the patronage of the First Lady.
“This means that a hundred world-famous landmarks – including Versailles, the Tower of London, and the Sagrada Família – are now speaking to their visitors in Ukrainian. Centuries of history and culture now sound in our language. And we launched most of these guides during an extraordinarily difficult period for Ukraine – amid the full-scale Russian invasion,” noted Olena Zelenska.
The First Lady recalled that the idea for the project emerged in 2019, during her first official visit to Germany.
“In Berlin, I joined a sightseeing bus tour and was delighted to hear Ukrainian among the available languages. Then I found out – it was more of an exception than the norm. At most major global tourist attractions, Ukrainians had no option but to turn to Russian, simply because Ukrainian wasn’t even offered. That’s when I decided: Ukrainian has the right to be heard around the world – and it will be,” Olena Zelenska shared.
Ukrainian-language audio guides have now been launched in 53 countries, including Türkiye, France, Denmark, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Uzbekistan, Austria, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, Rwanda, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, North Macedonia, Spain, the United States, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Montenegro, Italy, Lithuania, Georgia, Portugal, Thailand, Hungary, Switzerland, Brazil, Slovakia, Norway, Qatar, Estonia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Albania, Ireland, Poland, Israel, Finland, Australia, Cyprus, Japan, Serbia, the UAE, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, the Vatican, Croatia, Moldova, and South Africa.
Ukrainian audio tours are available at historic palaces and castles such as Palace of Versailles in France, Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark, Sanssouci Palace and Charlottenburg Palace in Germany, the Royal Palace of Gödöllő in Hungary, Edinburgh Castle in the UK, Schönbrunn and Hofburg Palaces in Austria, Dolmabahçe Palace in Türkiye, the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Lithuania, and the George Washington Mount Vernon estate in the United States. In addition, a Ukrainian-language video tour is available featuring ten of the most iconic artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Ukrainian-language audio is also available on sightseeing bus routes in Greece, Lithuania, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Mexico, and Argentina, as well as boat tours in Finland and Denmark.
The first Ukrainian audio guide was introduced at the Albertina Museum in Vienna. The longest is a 19-hour tour at the Vatican Museums. The most interactive is at the Benaki Museum in Athens. The most cutting-edge guide, developed with the help of artificial intelligence, is available at the Suomenlinna Fortress Museum. There are also child-friendly versions available at the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany.
Ukrainian audio guides are featured at places that tell the story of peoples' tragedies, their attempted erasure, and the power of memory to heal and move forward. These include the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the ALZHIR Memorial Complex of Victims of Political Repression and Totalitarianism in Kazakhstan, the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, and Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel.
Well-known Ukrainian figures have frequently taken part in recording these guides: Merited Artist of Ukraine and actor Dmytro Surzhykov; actresses Olena Uzliuk, Irma Vitovska, and Olena Kravets; TV hosts Masha Efrosinina and Yuriy Horbunov; radio host Sonya Sotnyk; opera singer Denys Vyshnia; writer Ivan Yatskanyn; performers Olya Polyakova, Tina Karol, and DZIDZIO; multiple Olympic fencing champion Olga Kharlan, and numerous Ukrainian ambassadors.
“Why is this project important – and why especially now? Because millions of Ukrainians, displaced across the world by Russia’s invasion, deserve to hear information in their native language. And because now, as Russia attempts to erase our heritage and identity, we must safeguard them more than ever. Our language must be heard – as a language of culture and progress. It is our ambassador to the world, just as each of us is,” Olena Zelenska emphasized.