Restoration of Dumka capella historic archive 1920-1991

Ukrainian Cultural Foundation announced on 22 February 2026 funding for a 3-year project to restore Kapela Dumka's historic archive 1920-1991. Project budget — 8.2 million UAH over 3 years. This is the largest audio restoration project in the history of Ukrainian cultural policy (previously maximum 2.5 million UAH). The capella's archive holds over 1200 hours of audio recordings from 1920-1991: 1) The oldest recordings (1920-1939) — on wax cylinders and shellac records, very crackly quality; 2) Soviet period (1939-1991) — on magnetic tapes in various formats (mono and stereo); 3) Many recordings damaged (melting, mold, physical wear). Project includes: 1) Digital scan of each physical carrier; 2) Audio restoration with noise, click, pop removal; 3) Documentation with full metadata; 4) Creation of public online archive. Technically, the restoration is performed by the specialized Audio Engineering Society Kyiv (founded 1998, has experience with Liatoshynsky archive restoration, Lysenko collection, other national archives). Project sound engineer — Andriy Harasymovych (Kyiv Conservatory professor). It is expected that by 2029 the entire archive will be available in formats: 1) Free online streaming on official capella portal; 2) Double CD-set 'Dumka: Voice of the 20th Century' (10-CD release 2029). First public release — 50th anniversary CD 'Dumka: 1970s Live Sessions' (8 October 2026, on 50th anniversary of 1976 radio show).