Things to do in Kiev, Ukraine: The Best Art Museums

The museum was opened in 2007, and it remains the only in Ukraine museum of the Circus Arts.The museum, telling about the fabulous and mysterious world of the circus, is located in the circus tent established in Nivki Park. The number of museum exhibits, now numbering to more than 2,000, is constantly increasing, both through acquisitions and through the objects passed to the gift of circus dynasties, collectors and fans of Circus Arts. The exhibition includes the first posters, rare photographs with autographs, costumes of the artists, reviews, and journalists articles related to circus, visual materials, an extensive library of books about the circus, props, paintings, drawings, posters, sculptures and, of course, the festival awards - once belonged to Michael Zolli, Helen grin, Nicholas Kobzov, Kashcheeva Irina, Mikhail Rybakov, and many others.

The largest museum of world arts in Ukraine was founded in 1919 on the basis of private art collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenkos, the outstanding Ukrainian patrons of art. Gorgeous interiors of the museum halls provide an exquisite setting for the unique collections of painting, sculpture, prints, drawings, and decorative art of Western Europe (Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Poland and etc.), and Asia (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, lands of Central Asia and Caucasus, China, Japan, India, Tibet, Mongolia, Buriatia, Kalmykia, and etc.), as well as the arts from the Ancient World (Egypt, Greece, Rome and Etruria). The key highlights of the museum include four Byzantine encaustic icons from 6th-7th centuries.The museum offers guided tours in Ukrainian, Russian, English, German and Chinese. Individual visitors can enjoy audio guide in Ukrainian, Russian, and English.The museum exposition is open daily, except Mondays and Tuesdays, from 10:30 till 17:30. Each first Wednesday of the month from 10:30 till 14:00– free access.

Kiev museum and art space devoted to Vladimir Vysotsky (1938 - 1980), a famous Soviet (Russian) actor, poet and singer.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is Ukraine’s flagship cultural institution that brings together various arts – from contemporary art, new music and theater to literature and museum development. The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to contribute to modernization of Ukrainian society and Ukraine’s integration into the global context based on the axiological potential of culture. Mystetskyi Arsenal’s projects raise and debate important social issues, provide space for open creation of the future and comprehension of the past. Mystetskyi Arsenal is a platform for interaction with the global cultural community through joint cultural projects. Mystetskyi arsenal integrates and develops various arts and cultural practices. The integration is done with a help of laboratories, constantly interacting with each other. Thus, various arts develop and enrich each other, and artistic and professional communities find points of intersection and mutual reinforcement.