Sacred Treasures from Kyiv

Sacred Treasures from Kyiv is open at V&A South Kensington from 14 September 2026 to 17 September 2027, in Rooms 84 and 89. It brings seven examples of Ukrainian Baroque sacred art to the UK for the first time, all on loan from the National Preserve Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The Lavra is one of the world's most significant religious and cultural sites: an Orthodox monastic complex founded in the 11th century and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These seven pieces were made by Kyiv goldsmiths in the 17th and 18th centuries, and they're a proper cross-section of the church's ceremonial life. You'll see an icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross from 1700, a silver-bound altar Gospel from 1707, a chalice from 1733, a tabernacle from 1756, and an asterisk and diskos from 1785. Each one is a heavy-hitting example of the Baroque style that defined the era.

There's a bit of a backstory here, too. The display is part of a multi-year partnership between the V&A and the Lavra, which started with the Gilbert Collection's silver-gilt Holy Gates. Those gates were dispersed during the Soviet period and had long been described through a Russian imperial framework; research by the V&A and Ukrainian specialists has since re-established their connection to the Lavra. Ukraine's Minister of Culture called that shift a 'process of decolonisation'. The whole thing sits within the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership.

It's free to see, and there's no booking required, so you can just drop in whenever you're around South Kensington. The exhibition runs until 17 September 2027, so there's plenty of time to fit it in.