VR Experience 'War Up Close' Transports Visitors to Ukraine's Frontlines at National Museum Eighty Years' War

The National Museum Eighty Years' War in Groenlo presents 'Dichtbij de oorlog' (Close to the War), an exhibition confronting the distant reality of the Ukraine conflict through immersive technology and personal narratives. Central to the show is the VR installation 'War up close' (2025), which uses 360-degree photography by photojournalists including Mykola Omelchenko to transport viewers to devastated Ukrainian sites. Visitors experience locations like the Hryhorii Skovoroda National Literary Memorial Museum in both pristine and ruined states. The exhibition combines civilian and military testimonies with actual battlefield equipment, including a Ukrainian sea drone. Throughout the space, weapons are displayed alongside photographs of war victims—children, youths, women, and soldiers—while drone nets and aircraft models hang overhead. The sound of fighter jets echoes through the church venue, illustrating how warfare's evolution impacts ground-level consequences. Technology serves as a crucial mediator, making the distant conflict viscerally present.