Yurii Dyba, Director of the Institute of Architecture and Design, Lviv Polytechnic, and Ihor Bokalo, Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and Conservation, made a working trip to Krakow on November 23–26, 2025 as part of the Polish-Ukrainian dialogue on the topic of an education model in the field of conservation of monuments (in accordance with European Union standards). Representatives of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Lviv City Council and the Lviv National Academy of Arts also participated in the dialogue from the Ukrainian side. The Polish side was represented by the Polonika Institute, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and the International Cultural Center in Krakow. This was the second in a series of meetings, following the previous one in Warsaw.
The working meeting, which began at the Jan Matejko Academy of Arts in Krakow on November 24, was opened by Professor Bartłomiej Struzik, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. The Consul General of Ukraine in Krakow, Viacheslav Voinarovskyi, also addressed the organizers and participants of the meeting with a welcome speech.
The Ukrainian delegation was represented by, in particular, Taras Lesiv, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work at the Lviv National Academy of Arts, and Marianna Moroz, Head of the Department of Accounting and Monitoring of Cultural Heritage Objects, the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Lviv City Council. Professor Yurii Dyba, Director of the Institute of Architecture and Design, and Associate Professor Ihor Bokalo, the Department of Architecture and Сonservation, noted the importance of such an event for expanding cooperation between the parties in the educational, scientific and research spheres and deepening cooperation in practical activities to preserve the cultural and artistic heritage and restore architectural monuments of the two peoples.
On 25–26 November, a delegation from Lviv Polytechnic, together with Ukrainian and Polish colleagues, had the opportunity to visit the academic buildings and workshops of the Jan Matejko Academy of Arts in Krakow, where they got acquainted with the peculiarities of conservation of works of art made of stone and wood, as well as works of painting on wood and canvas. While communicating with the directors of workshops, they discussed the issues of engineering and technical equipment on the premises and methods and technologies of restoration of works of art.
A vivid event was a visit to the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krakow, where representatives of the Jan Matejko Academy of Arts showed their Lviv colleagues the methodology of the long process of restoration of the carved multi-figured main altar of this church, which was created between 1477 and 1489 by the famous carver Wit Stwosz. This work became the most important milestone in the work of the restorers from the Matejko Academy. The participants had the opportunity to examine the results of the work in detail and assess the nature of the changes to this unique monument after the interventions of the restorers.
