Volkswacht Bodensee - Czech 'arks' help preserve Ukraine's cultural heritage

The Archa (Ark) III is a Volkswagen van comprising a studio equipped with a robot and three cameras to create precise models of endangered historic items in Ukraine, which has been battling a full-scale Russian invasion since 2022.

"Archa III is a unique mobile digitisation device enabling us to create high-quality 3D images of endangered artifacts and collection items out in the field," National Museum director Michal Lukes told reporters.

He added the scanners could handle both tiny objects and more sizeable items even inside museums.

"In this way, we can create precise digital copies of items that can then serve for documentation and research purposes, but also for restoration, potential reconstruction, or the production of copies," he added.

Museum staff will drive the van to Kyiv in early April and hand it over to Ukrainian partners under the project carried out in cooperation with the foundation of Czech billionaire Karel Komarek.

It follows an Archa I container equipped to conserve and restore books and an Archa II van digitising two-dimensional items, which Prague sent to Ukraine earlier.

The foundation, which worked on the first two "Arks" with other institutions, said they have so far handled almost 40,000 pages of documents, such as historic newspapers retrieved from the Regional Scientific Library in Kherson.

"The van comprises an autonomous robotic system designed for photogrammetry and 3D output," said the museum's IT director Martin Soucek.

Speed is crucial, and the robot moving along three axes can generate thousands of high-quality photographs within minutes.

"It then uses the photographs to create a hyper-realistic model with high detail, a so-called digital twin," Soucek added.

The project also involves expert training and a website on which the scanned artifacts will be exhibited.

Vitalii Usatyi, the charge d'affaires at the Ukrainian embassy in Prague, hailed the van for being able to work across Ukraine, "including regions exposed to risks related to the Russian aggression".

"This is crucial for preserving cultural heritage," he added.

A recent UNESCO report said that 523 cultural sites had been verified as damaged as of March 11, including 153 religious sites, 273 buildings of historical or artistic interest, 39 museums, 33 monuments, 20 libraries, four archaeological sites and one archive.

C.Stoecklin--VB