Kyiv secrets. How to be a guide during a pandemic and search for city's face

Darya Trohymovych

For the New Year, a new, 28th mini-sculpture was installed in Kyiv as a part of the "Search!" project. This time, it's with the face of the capital. "Search!" is a project by Yulia Bevzenko from Kyiv, telling the story of Kyiv in mini-sculptures scattered throughout the city. Here is a Kyiv cake, and Mykhailo Bulgakov, and chess, and a tram… Simply everything is there! And it's about Kyiv.

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But "Search!" isn't the only project by Yulia Bevzenko. Yulia is a guide in Kyiv, leads tours for Ukrainians and foreigners, often for the townsfolk, organizes educational projects for other guides, and during a pandemic, proves that you can work as a guide even in lockdown. You just need to approach the matter a little differently and show creativity. We talked with Yulia about how mini-sculptures appeared in Kyiv, about working as a guide and what one needed for it, and about the world of 2020, where there are virtually no trips but a lot of distancing; and opportunities for personal meetings are regularly closed. How do the tourism industry and guides survive?