Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO)

Overview

Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) is an international volunteer initiative launched in March 2022 to safeguard the digital cultural heritage of Ukraine in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion. Founded by Anna Kijas (Tufts University), Quinn Dombrowski (Stanford University), and Sebastian Majstorovic (European University Institute), SUCHO rapidly mobilized over 1,500 volunteers from more than 38 countries to web-archive Ukrainian cultural institutions' websites and digital collections.

History and Founding

The initiative launched on 1 March 2022, days after the Russian invasion began, when Anna Kijas issued a call for volunteers to join a virtual data rescue effort. Within the first week, approximately 1,000 volunteers had joined. By June 2022, SUCHO had web-archived more than 50 terabytes of data from over 5,000 websites representing museums, libraries, archives, music academies, theatres, monasteries, and local history programs across Ukraine. The project has been compared to the work of the Monuments Men during the Second World War.

Collections and Holdings

SUCHO's web archive encompasses over 5,400 Ukrainian cultural heritage websites, totaling more than 51 terabytes of data. The archived material includes digital collections from national archives, local museums, 3D tours of churches, children's art centers, and open-access academic journals. SUCHO also maintains a curated Exploring Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online gallery, and a Meme Wall archiving war-related internet memes with metadata for future historical research.

Phase Two Activities

In summer 2022, SUCHO moved into a second phase focused on Curate, Donate, and Educate goals. The initiative raised more than €218,000 in its first nine months, directing €74,000 directly to Ukrainian cultural institutions in the form of digitization equipment, generators, server space, and materials for collection protection. SUCHO has also developed training materials in Ukrainian and facilitated a community-of-practice program called Memory Savers for Ukrainian cultural workers. Digital repatriation — returning preserved data to originating Ukrainian institutions — remains a core value. SUCHO received the Grand Prix in the Heritage Champions category of the 2023 European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Awards.

Access and Usage

Archived websites are publicly accessible through the Internet Archive. The curated gallery and Meme Wall are accessible on the SUCHO website. SUCHO is in ongoing dialogue with UNESCO regarding a potential future National Digital Library of Ukraine as a long-term steward for the preserved data.