The Museum was founded in September 1993 and is based on Ivan Honchar's (1911-1993) private collection. During the Soviet period he was accused of nationalism. All those who manifested interest in his collection were registered with the KGB. The collection represents the “Ukrainahood” of the 17-20th centuries and has 15 000 pieces. The centre piece of Honchar’s collection are the folk pictures, the inventive hero “Mamai Cossack” is especially popular. Also impressive is the elaborate collection of clothes from the 18-19^th centuries (2500 samples) as well as pottery art exhibits (630 plates, dishes, crockery and zoomorphic ceramic toys).