For the second week now, four students of the Institute of Architecture and Design, Lviv Polytechnic National University, under the leadership of Olena Stasiuk, Candidate of Architecture, Assistant Professor at the Department of Restoration of Architectural and Artistic Heritage, are undergoing restoration practice in the church of St. Barbara in Vienna.
The young restorers and their mentor went to Austria at the invitation of the Ukrainian parish priest Fr. Taras, who addressed the Department of Architecture and Urban Development, Lviv Regional Military Administration, to help in organizing such training.
«The main task of the interns is to examine the walls of the temple covered with paintings and oil paintings by the Ukrainian-American diaspora artist Sviatoslav Hordynskyi. Some of these canvases will be dismantled by students and they will learn how to restore them», says Khrystyna Berehovska, head of the We&World art project, Doctor of Art History, Associate Professor at the Department of Design and Architecture Fundamentals, Lviv Polytechnic.
The general repair of the church and the restoration of its frescoes are timed to the 250th anniversary of the time when the Austrian empress Maria Theresa transferred the premises of the former Jesuit dormitory of St. Barbara together with the church to hold services according to the Greek Catholic rite.
«This church is the oldest Ukrainian parish in Western Europe. Its restoration is a great opportunity for Ukrainian students to acquire new knowledge and skills, to gain valuable restoration experience. Therefore, it was fundamentally important for us to find financial opportunities and organize this practice, even in such a difficult time», says Olena Vasylko, Director of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Lviv Regional Military Administration.
