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December 2009 / January 2010
In this issue
· Our holiday wish for you
· Christmas Bazaar
· Christmas in the gift shop, too!
· Exhibition of Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn paintings
· Sponsorship extended for Ukraine-Sweden
· A personal appeal from J. Leshko
· 2010 film festivals: Circle these dates!
· Thank you, Branch 113!
· Now showing …
· Coming in 2010 …
· Around the Museum
Scroll down to see more …
Our holiday wish for you
The Board of Trustees and the Administration of The Ukrainian Museum join you and your family in celebrating the joys of this holiday season. May you have a very Merry Christmas; may the New Year be filled with much peace, good health, and great happiness; and may your generous and deeply valued support of the Museum and its mission to preserve Ukraine's cultural heritage be rewarded with countless blessings!
Christmas Bazaar
Saturday, December 12
Sunday, December 13
Don't miss the Museum's traditional Christmas Bazaar, this Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Whether you're looking for a special gift or a tasty treat, or just browsing, the Christmas Bazaar is where you'll find "just the thing": folk art items, Christmas ornaments, artwork, delicious home-baked goods, and much more. Be sure to come early for the best selection!
Christmas in the gift shop, too!
New! Unique Christmas tree ornaments – hand-made wreaths with satin ribbons, approximately 7 1/2" in length – $9.50 each
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When you drop by for the Bazaar – or at any time over the holidays – be sure to visit the Museum's gift shop, too. It has an extensive selection of giftware, toys, cards, and books, and is open during Museum visiting hours – or you can do your shopping online, whenever and wherever it's convenient for you.
Exhibition of Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn paintings
Opening December 13
Museum members and friends are invited to attend the opening of the exhibition The Gift of Art: A Major Gift of Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn Paintings, a special event this Sunday, December 13, from 2 to 5 p.m. The exhibition spotlights Dr. Wolodymyr Petryshyn's gift to the Museum of 44 works by his late wife and recognizes her importance to the cultural life of the Ukrainian community. Nearly all the Museum's holdings of Olenska-Petryshyn's works are included in the exhibition, along with four paintings on loan from the estate of her mother, Maria Olenska.
The Gift of Art is one in a series of exhibitions honoring the generosity of donors who have enriched the Museum's collection with substantial gifts. The exhibition opens to the public on December 16 and runs through March 7, 2010.
Sponsorship extended for Ukraine-Sweden
In March 2010, The Ukrainian Museum will unveil an important exhibition – Ukraine‒Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries) – to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Swedish-Ukrainian alliance, the Battle of Poltava, and the death of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. The exhibition was shown to widespread acclaim in 2008‒2009 at the National Museum of Ukrainian History in Kyiv, where Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf attended its opening.
Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History includes more than 100 priceless historical artifacts from Ukraine and Sweden, Ukraine's ally in the Battle of Poltava, one of the most critical events in Ukraine's history. The exhibition promises to be a poignant reminder of an event that, to this day, continues to irk Russia. It will also demonstrate to the American public and to younger Ukrainian Americans that the battle to preserve Ukraine's independence was already being fought, by Hetman Mazepa and his Cossacks, 300 years ago.
Sponsorship brochure and form [PDF]: English | Ukrainian
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Read [PDF] about the items to be exhibited and the list of lending institutions.
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A number of sponsorship opportunities are still available for this important exhibition. Among the benefits of sponsorship are recognition at the exhibition entrance, in the invitation to the exhibition opening, in the brochure, on the Museum's website, in e-news (circ. 4,000+), and – for sponsorships received by January 15 – in the English-language exhibition catalogue. Sponsors will also be invited to the opening reception and will receive a complimentary copy of the full-color exhibition catalogue. For more detailed information, or to become an exhibition sponsor, please download the sponsorship brochure or contact the Museum's administrative director, Daria Bajko, at 212.228.0110 or info@ukrainianmuseum.org. All donations are tax-deductible and may be billed to your Visa or MasterCard.
A report from the President of the Board
Editor's note: As described above and in several previous issues of e-news, The Ukrainian Museum is currently preparing to mount the exhibition Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries), which is scheduled to open in March 2010. To facilitate the process, Professor Jaroslaw Leshko, President of the Museum's Board of Trustees, recently travelled, at his own expense, to both Sweden and Ukraine. The Museum greatly appreciates Professor Leshko's generosity, enthusiasm, and input into this important project. Below are his report and impressions of the trip.
I want to update you on the Museum's most important exhibition of 2010: Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries).
A significant amount of work has already been done by our Museum in preparation for this exhibition, which comprises some 120 items on loan from 20 museums and archives in Ukraine and Sweden. These important historical documents and artifacts include items belonging to Hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ivan Mazepa, Pylyp Orlyk, and others. The highlight of the exhibition is a group of flags, including Khmelnytsky's flag and those associated with Mazepa. Every object in this exhibition will have crossed the Atlantic for the first time. I am convinced that the exhibition will have a powerful impact on visitors as they stand before items that truly are the stuff of history.
To aid in the preparation of the exhibition, I recently traveled to Sweden and Ukraine. The trip was fruitful and necessary. I was able to negotiate various aspects of the exhibition and to secure the loan of important new items that will be exhibited only in our Museum.
l-r: Johan Engström, Deputy Director General of the National Swedish Museums of Military History; Karin Tetteris of Sweden's Armémuseum; Jaroslaw Leshko, President of the UM Board of Trustees
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The Swedish institutions were extremely cooperative and generous – nearly half the items on loan are from Swedish museums and archive collections. Johan Engström, Deputy Director General of the National Swedish Museums of Military History, set a gracious tone by meeting my wife and me wearing a trident lapel pin.
The visit to Ukraine was equally positive. I had the privilege of meeting Vasyl Vovkun, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, and thanked him on behalf of the Museum for the ministry's generous support of the exhibition. I was also warmly received by Serhij Mychaylovich Chaykovsky, the Deputy Director of the National Historical Museum, who agreed to make important loans from that museum's extraordinary collection and to coordinate loans from all the museums in Ukraine. In addition, new loans were secured from museums in Chernihiv, Baturyn, and Chyhyryn. In my meeting with Ursula Silling, First Deputy Director General – Commercial of AeroSvit, an agreement was reached for AeroSvit to transport the items from Ukraine to New York and back, free of charge, and to discount fares for everyone from Ukraine connected with the exhibition.
l-r: Yurii Savchuk, curator of Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History;
Vasyl Vovkun, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine; Jaroslaw Leshko
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Much of my trip was expertly facilitated by Yurii Savchuk, the curator of the exhibition. I first met him in Stockholm, and both there and in Ukraine he was our constant guide. He is a person of immense intellectual capacity and practical acumen. The Museum is both pleased and proud that he is in charge of this important enterprise.
I conclude by asking for your support of this historic exhibition. The exhibition will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime event, and an imperative for every Ukrainian. It will also make plain to all visitors that, during this historic period, Ukraine's desire for independence became a powerful force in the consciousness of its people.
I urge you to become a sponsor and have your name and that of your family permanently linked to this historic event in the pages of the exhibition catalogue. The deadline for inclusion in the catalogue is January 15, 2010. Please refer to the online brochure for sponsorship levels.
Jaroslaw Leshko
President, Board of Trustees
2010 film festivals: Circle these dates!
Orange Weekend
Friday, January 15, 7 p.m.
Steve York's Orange Revolution
2007, 106 min., English
Q&A with Prof. Alexander Motyl, Rutgers University
Saturday, January 16, 7 p.m.
Damian Kolodiy's Orange Chronicles
2004, 96 min., English/Ukrainian/English subtitles
Q&A with filmmaker Damian Kolodiy
Sunday, January 17, 2 p.m.
Mirosław Dembiński's Dwarfs Go to Ukraine
2005, 58 min., Polish/Ukrainian/English subtitles
Q&A with filmmaker Mirosław Dembiński
As the current presidential election campaign in Ukraine heats up, memories of the Orange Revolution abound. The documentary films shown during the Orange Weekend festival will recall the historic events that took place from November 2004 to January 2005, focusing the attention of the world on Ukraine, its fledgling democracy, and its struggle for justice. Whether you are interested in learning about the Orange Revolution or want to relive the excitement – and hope – of that time, these films are not to be missed.
Kinofest NYC
Friday, February 26, 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 27, 7 p.m.
Sunday, February 28, 2 p.m.
This inaugural festival will present the best in emerging independent filmmaking from Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc and Iron Curtain countries. Designed to mirror two of the more notable Ukrainian film festivals that take place in Kyiv each year – Molodist (Youth) and Vidkryta Nich (Open Night) – Kinofest NYC will connect the post-Soviet film scene with the New York area cinema community. This is a festival that gives voice to filmmakers who tell unique, intriguing, authentic stories of the East European experience. For more on the festival, go to KinofestNYC.com.
The schedule for the Kinofest NYC film festival will be e-mailed to all e-news subscribers as soon as it becomes available.
Thank you, Branch 113!
Members of Branch 113 during a visit to the Museum in 2007
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Ukrainian National Women's League of America Branch 113 celebrated its 25th anniversary with a fund-raising gala on November 21 at the Ukrainian Institute of America to benefit the Museum's upcoming exhibition Ukraine-Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries). Guests dined, danced to the music of the very popular Slavko and Olya ensemble, and were brilliantly entertained by the talented Master of Ceremonies, Ihor Chuma. The evening raised $5,000 in net proceeds for the Museum. Our sincere thanks to Branch 113!
Now showing …
more
Coming in 2010 …
Around the Museum
Symposium: An Oral History of News Photography
Veteran news photographer Morris Warman (at the podium) spent his career with the New York Herald Tribune from 1941 until it closed in 1966. He specialized in dramatic portraits of iconic figures such as presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, among many others.
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In conjunction with its exhibition 2008: The Year in Pictures, hosted this year by The Ukrainian Museum, the New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) organized a unique presentation on the oral history of New York newspaper photography on Thursday evening, November 5. The event, An Oral History of News Photography, featured renowned photographers and editors telling their stories and showing some of their extraordinary photographs.
View videos and photos of the exhibition and conference at www.nyppa.org.
Concert: "SongDance"
Photo by Eileen Condon, © Center for Traditional Music and Dance
l-r: Nadia Tarnawsky, Lilia Pavlovska, Brandon Vance, Julian Kytasty,
Ron Lawrence, Katja Kolcio, Nicole Stanton
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"SongDance" featured bandurist/singer/arranger Lilia Pavlovska; dancer/choreographer Katja Kolcio; violist Ron Lawrence; special guests Nadia Tarnawsky (voice), Nicole Stanton (dance), and Brandon Vance (fiddle); and the Radio Banduristan Song and Dance Ensemble. Bandurist Julian Kytasty hosted the event. The concert, which took place November 13, was the second of two concerts in the series "Fine Art / Folk Art: Two Counterpoints," a program of new works, drawing on deep folkloric sources, developed in conjunction with the Museum's exhibition Fine Art / Folk Art: A Dialogue. The series was presented by the Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and the New York Bandura Ensemble/Bandura Downtown.
Click here to view more photos from this event.
Film screening: The Living (Zhyvi)
The Ukrainian Museum was proud to co-present the U.S. premiere of The Living (Zhyvi) at the American Museum of Natural History on November 14 as part of the 33rd annual Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival. The Living (Zhyvi) (2008, 75 minutes) is director Sergiy Bukovsky's tribute to the children who survived the horrors of the Holodomor, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's attempted genocide, through starvation, of the Ukrainian people in 1932-1933. The filmmaker was on hand for this screening of his film.
Celebration: 60th anniversary of Hirniak-Dobrovolska theater
On November 22, the Museum, together with the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh-A), hosted an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Theater-Studio of Joseph Hirniak and Olimpia Dobrovolska. The celebration included a presentation/lecture by Dr. Larissa Onyshkevych and many moving personal reminiscences by actors of the Theater-Studio. It also featured a history of the Theater-Studio in pictures and the recorded voices of Joseph Hirniak and Olimpia Dobrovolska, which were drawn from the Ukrainian Museum's archival collection and arranged by Vasyl Lopukh of NTSh-A.
Click to view more photos of this event.
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Among the featured speakers were Volodymyr Lysniak, former actor and director of the Theater-Studio, actress Laryssa
Kukrytska, a.k.a. Laryssa Lauret, who played the role of Lista in the Liev Schreiber film Everything Is Illuminated (2005), and former student-actors
Olya Kyrychenko-Shuhan and Askold Lozynskyj, Esq.
The event was conceived by Ivanka Zajac; Vasyl Makhno of NTSh-A acted as Master of Ceremonies.
Header image: Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn, Hyperborea (detail), oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in., The Ukrainian Museum collection
All photos © The Ukrainian Museum
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The Ukrainian Museum's film series and traditional arts programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
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The Ukrainian Museum's traditional arts programs are funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts
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