On Thursday, 17 April 2025, the management of the Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions, led by the Director-General Pavlo Kryvonos, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia, Andon Sapundzi, visited an exhibition entitled The Hryvnia. More than Money at the Ukrainian House National Centre.
The project was developed by the Ukrainian House National Centre and the National Bank of Ukraine in cooperation with the State Archival Service of Ukraine, Central State Archive of the Higher Authorities and Administration of Ukraine, and Platform for Cultural Initiatives NGO.
The exhibition presents the Ukrainian hryvnia as something more than just money. It is a part of our history, culture, and art. The hryvnia is a bearer of history etched in designs, colours, and images. It depicts Ukraine’s path, struggles, evolution, and development. Like the coat-of-arms, flag, and anthem, national currency is an inalienable part of our statehood. It conserves the memory of the past and reminds us who we are. The hryvnia rallies generations and symbolises unity between Ukraine’s past, present, and future.
During the viewing of the exhibition, distinguished guests discovered Ukrainian banknotes designed by prominent Ukrainian artists, including Oleksandr Bohomazov, Heorhii Narbut, Vasyl Krychevskyi, Mykhailo Boichuk, Vasyl Lopata, and others, and also found out how money evolved over time, reflecting socio-political changes and major historical events. The evolution of Ukrainian currency can be traced from its inception in the Kyivan Rus to the emergence of the banknotes of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and further, to the rebirth of the hryvnia at the beginning of independence. Moreover, during the visit, each guest had a chance to view archival materials, artefacts, and works of art that reflected historical events.
One of the exhibition’s halls is dedicated to the process of the creation of the modern hryvnia, from conception to print. There, the guests learned more about the technological process and the main stages of the creation of Ukraine’s currency unit.
At the end of the exploration of the historiography of the hryvnia, the Director-General of the GDIP gifted Ivan Marchuk’s commemorative coin Pliontanism to the Ambassador of Serbia as a keepsake to remember the unique exhibition.
За детальнішою інформацією щодо екскурсій звертайтесь до начальниці відділу з питань культури та туризму дирекції «Медіацентр» Оксани Тімонової за телефоном: +38 (067) 245 74 53.
