York Archaeological Trust help to put Ukrainian culture on display in York.

In 1989, Dr Tweddle of York Archaeological Trust, arranged for an exhibition of holograms representing some of the earliest treasures from the area, which is now southern Ukraine, to be displayed at St Saviour's Church. The exhibition ran during the summer of 1989 and was entitled Russian Holograms: Treasure Trapped in Light.

It featured 60 holograms of some of the earliest treasures produced by the numerous ancient civilisations who inhabited the area, which is now Southern Ukraine, amongst them Trypillians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Sarmations and Greeks. Perhaps the preeminent element of the exhibition was that of the Scythian gold, recognised as particularly magnificent in its quality and detail.

The use of technology, in this case holograms, was considered an excellent way to show these objects outside the Soviet Union for the first time, as the original objects were considered too valuable to travel. Sadly, the Scythian gold caught the attention of those outside Eastern Europe again in 2022, when many of the items were looted from the Odesa Archaeological Museum and Melitpol Museum during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In this video excerpt, we see the introductory section of the exhibition. There is an explanation of the Denisyuk method of creating holograms, followed by an exploration of Trypillian culture. The first holograms to feature in the exhibition are mammoth tusks and clay female figures.

Despite the challenges posed by the lighting of the exhibition and the nature of the exhibits, the camera manages to capture views of the holograms and gives the viewer an insight into how realistic and three dimensional they are. Liturgical music plays softly in the background.