RIHA
Members of RIHA
28 February 2022
Dear colleague,
On Thursday 24 February 2022 the Republic of Ukraine was invaded by Russian forces. Yesterday the United Nations communicated that already some 368,000 people have had to flee over the last three to four days, at least some 150,000 to Poland, many others to Hungary and Romania or to more more savier regions in their (once) homeland. A rough estimation by the European Union indicates that at least 7,000,000 people will have to leave their homes because of the ongoing violence.
The unique strength of our network is ‘to promote education and research in art history and related disciplines, to intensify cooperation between the institutes by facilitating the flow of information on scientific and administrative activities as well as the exchange of research findings, and to encourage the institutes to undertake joint projects.’
Since 1998 RIHA is able to connect colleagues from many different cultural backgrounds from all over the globe, having in mind that ‘culture’ has in principle no rigid boundaries/borders defined by ‘one-day-politicians’, but is an essential expression of the human mind and spirit, that can only flourish by a free flow of people and ideas, people who at least want to try to understand each other, without putting a gun.
For many colleagues within RIHA Ukraine is at this moment very nearby. This invasion will be affecting us all sooner or later, as now European history is being rewritten.
RIHA’s Board proposes to lending a helping hand and calls its members to share knowledge about colleagues from Ukraine who are in danger and seeking for international help. We have set up a Google account where we will collect information about threatened colleagues, institutions, and heritage confidentially and share it with our members who can offer help, such as ad hoc scholarships. Simply write to rihaforukraine@gmail.com. In addition, you can follow @Sci_for_Ukraine on Twitter, where institutions and labs post direct help offers. Some institutes and labs have also published a Google spreadsheet with offers, which you find on Twitter by searching ‘labs supporting Ukrainian scientists’.
On behalf of RIHA’s Board,
prof. dr. Joana Cunha Leal (Secretary), dr. Martin Olin (Treasurer), prof. dr. Iván Gerat (Board Member), prof. dr. Chris Stolwijk (Chair)