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May 2012
In this issue
· Lecture: "Borys Kosarev and Ukrainian Photography" – April 27
· The UM "in the news"
· Kinofest NYC 2012: May 3-6
· Time for some family fun?
· Wedding Plans?
· June preview
· Museum joins Blue Star program
· Now showing …
· Photo gallery – The past month, in pictures
Scroll down to see more …
Lecture: "Borys Kosarev and Ukrainian Photography"
Friday, April 27, 7 p.m.
Dr. Tetiana Pavlova, Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, is flying to New York just to present the lecture "Borys Kosarev and Ukrainian Photography," in conjunction with the Museum's exhibition Borys Kosarev: Modernist Kharkiv, 1915-1931.
Kosarev's first documented stills were made during the time of World War I. After the war, he photographed landscapes, trees, temples, people, and streets around Kharkiv, Odesa, and other places. It was quite unexpected for researchers to learn that Kosarev was cameraman Danylo Demutsky's assistant at the filming Oleksandr Dovzhenko's Earth (1930). Kosarev's photography, once relegated to the margins of his creative quests, has now been recognized as having made an important contribution to the history of Ukrainian photographic art.
The lecture will include a short film using an unfinished project started by Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), an English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and in motion-picture projection.
Time of the Objects Living in the Shot (Ukraine, 2012) was directed by Svetlana Zinovieva and Aleksandr Balagura.
Tickets ($15; $10 members and seniors; $5 students) may be purchased online or, space permitting, at the door. Admission includes a reception following the lecture.
The UM "in the news"
The Museum received a great deal of publicity in the weeks leading up to Easter, with more on the horizon. Be sure to check out the "buzz":
TimeOutNewYork.com named The Ukrainian Museum to its list of Best International Societies and Museums.
"The Local East Village," a blog produced by New York University's Carter Journalism Institute in collaboration with The New York Times, featured a video on March 30 of the Museum's recent Easter baking and pysanka-decorating workshops.
"The Chew," an ABC daytime program focusing on food, style, and entertaining, mentioned the Museum and our pysanky during its April 5 "Eggstravaganza" episode.
Kinofest NYC 2012: May 3-6
Kinofest NYC is back for its third consecutive year! This year, the film festival ‒ the only one in New York to feature Ukrainian and post-Soviet films ‒ will include seven sessions at two screening venues, the Museum (UM) and the Anthology Film Archives (AFA, 32 2nd Avenue, corner of 2nd St.). Tickets are $10 per screening and may be purchased online or in person at the venue just before showtime. Seating is limited – advance purchase online is recommended!
Thursday, May 3, 7:30 p.m. ‒ UM
Cross Country
Ukraine, 2011
Rus w/Eng subtitles
The Rain
Ukraine, 2007
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Maryna Vroda
The Ukrainian Museum will kick off the weekend of film with filmmaker Maryna Vroda, who will show her short Cross Country, winner of the 2011 Palme d'Or Best Short Film award at Cannes, and The Rain. The screening will be followed by introductions of all the visiting filmmakers from Ukraine and Germany. The evening will end with a reception catered by Veselka restaurant.
Friday, May 4, 7:30 p.m. ‒ AFA
The Other Chelsea: A Story from Donetsk
Germany, 2010
Rus/Eng w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Jakob Preuss
WATCH THE TRAILER
The New York premiere of the award-winning The Other Chelsea: A Story from Donetsk, directed by German-born filmmaker Jakob Preuss, will take place at the Anthology Film Archives. Just in time for Eurocup 2012, The Other Chelsea is a revealing film about soccer and politics in Ukraine. Preuss, who lives in Berlin, will be in New York to present his film. The Other Chelsea explores the links among sports, business, and politics in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk – home to Shakhtar Donetsk, the winning Ukrainian football team (soccer in the U.S.), and to billionaire football supporter Rinat Akhmetov, and home base for Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych. In his film, Preuss illustrates the social and political decline that Ukraine's new elite have entrenched in their country. He humorously tells the story of the discordant worlds of increasing wealth and poverty by following two ardent fans – a coal miner and a well-to-do politician. Their worlds meet in the Donetsk football stadium where, despite their differences, they are united by their strong ties to the nostalgia of their Soviet past.
The Woman with the 5 Elephants
Switzerland, 2009
Ger/Rus w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Vadim Jendreyko
WATCH THE TRAILER
No, the woman is not a circus trainer. She's Kyiv-born 86-year-old Svetlana Geier, a world-renowned Fyodor Dostoyevsky scholar. And the elephants are five of Dostoyevsky's major works that Svetlana has been translating into German, a 20-year project. As the film opens, she's near completion. Highly intelligent and down-to-earth sweet, Svetlana is fascinating to listen to and watch as she translates collaboratively, prepares meals for her visiting family, or meticulously attends to household chores. Her life story is riveting. We discover, among other things, that her father, an agronomist, died a victim of Stalin's purges and that young Svetlana, to survive during World War II, became a German translator for the Nazis when they occupied Kyiv. Having relocated permanently to Germany during the war, Svetlana returns by train to Kyiv nearly 65 years later. A deeply satisfying film.
Preceded by the film short 1937, Russia, 2010, Rus w/ Eng subtitles; directed by Svetozar Goloviev.
Saturday, May 5, 5 p.m. ‒ AFA
Post-Soviet Film Shorts
Ave.AVI
Ukraine, 2011
Silent
Directed by Maxim Afanasyev
The filmmaker uses stop-motion animation to nightmarishly depict a macabre couple whose only delight is watching their coin-operated TV.
Cradle of Destiny
Ukraine, 2010
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Serhiy Siliava
Society’s expectations and roles foisted on us, symbolically represented by a surreal sequence of footwear and feet.
Home
Russia/Chechnya, 2012
Rus/Chechen w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Ruslan Magomadov
An ingenious elderly Chechen forages to survive in the wasteland of Chechnya’s Russian-artillery-obliterated capital, Grozny.
One More Day
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Olexandr Rudyk
A sweet, old baba and her simple longing.
To Be Human
Ukraine, 2012
Rus w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Anna Butozova
With wanted posters of him posted all over town, a young criminal on the lam faces a moral dilemma when he finds and then wants to turn in an abandoned infant.
Christmas with Fritz Dubert
USA, 2010
Eng
Directed by Michael Nikitin
It's the night before Christmas, and Tanya discovers her husband Albert holds more surprises for her than just her Christmas gift.
Oko
Ukraine, 2010
Silent
Directed by Mykyta Liskov
Animation with a stark, disturbing post-apocalyptic theme.
Treasure Seekers
Ukraine/Poland, 2009
Pol/Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Agnieszka Bak
Equipped with a metal detector, two elderly Polish brothers travel to the city of Lviv in search of their parents’ legendary buried treasure. The problem is it’s almost 70 years later, and a lot has changed. A humorous adventure.
Boyarka Serenade
Ukraine, 2012
Rus w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Svitlana Tymoshenko
Enchanting, 11-year-old Rachel is the product of a Ukrainian mother and an African father and has big saxophone dreams of leaving Boyarka for America.
Ambitious
Bashkortostan/Russia, 2010
Bashkir w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Aynur Askarov
The main event in a picturesque Bashkir village is the weekly film showing at the local recreation center. This delightful tale revolves around film-day’s most passionate fan, a boy nicknamed "disco dancer."
Saturday, May 5, 8 p.m. ‒ AFA
Land of Oblivion
France/Ukraine/Poland/Germany, 2011
Ukr/Rus w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Michale Boganim
WATCH THE TRAILER
This engaging film about the nuclear plant disaster at Chernobyl and its effect on neighboring Pripyat residents is told primarily through the eyes of a young bride, now a Chernobyl widow, Anya (Olga Kurylenko), and Valery, the son of a scientist who has disappeared. Pripyat, once a thriving city of 50,000 built to house Chernobyl workers, became a ghost town after the meltdown. Ten years later, Anya is working as a guide, showing tourists around a less toxic Chernobyl and Pripyat, and Valery is still searching for his father. But Anya is at a crossroads. She can stay and marry her Ukrainian lover, Dmitri, who’s rebuilding a life in Pripyat, or she can try to escape past horrors by marrying her French lover, Patrick, and moving to Paris.
Preceded by the film short Chronicle of Severe Days, 1986, silent w/Eng subtitles; directed by Vladimir Shevchenko.
Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m. ‒ UM
Goodbye, Ukraine!, a Volodymyr Tykhyy series featuring film shorts by Ukrainian filmmakers.
Reed
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Ruslan Batytskyy
A single father’s struggle to provide for his invalid daughter in a ramshackle Ukrainian village comes to a haunting conclusion.
Without GMO
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Larysa Artiuhina
A recent widow reconsiders relocating abroad after a most unusual culinary encounter.
The Beard
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Dmytro Suholytkyj-Sobchuk
An elderly, solitary, village man anticipates his daughter’s return from abroad to partake in an annual, intimate, father-daughter ritual.
Hamburg
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Volodymyr Tykhyy
A hospital in Ukraine fulfills the adventurous fantasies of one of its patients … partially.
Off I'll Go
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Valeriy Shalyha
The tedium of small-city family life inspires a middle-aged woman to consider working abroad.
Almost Love
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Julia Shashkova
Fifteen-year-old Anya has a secret crush on the boy next door. She suddenly discovers that he's emigrating from Ukraine and doesn't have anywhere to leave his dog.
Angel of Death
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Volodymyr Tykhyy
Every day, the reclusive Bohdan begs God to exact severe justice on all the scoundrels on earth. At last, his prayers are answered.
Sunday, May 6, 5 p.m. ‒ UM
Firecrosser
Ukraine, 2011
Ukr/Rus/Eng w/Eng subtitles
Directed by Mykhailo Illienko
WATCH THE TRAILER
This romantic ballad is based on the true story of a Ukrainian hero named Ivan Dodka. Ivan, a Soviet pilot, is shot down during a sortie and captured by the Germans. After being released from a prisoner-of-war camp, he is returned to the Soviet Union, but instead of being treated as a hero, he is banished to a gulag. Ivan miraculously escapes and winds up in Canada, where he becomes chief of an Indian tribe. Some years later, as the chief, Ivan meets a Soviet delegation in Canada. The delegation is shocked and baffled with this Indian chief who speaks fluent Ukrainian.
For more information about Kinofest NYC, visit www.kinofestNYC.com.
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Time for some family fun?
We have the perfect activity for you!
Looking to spend some quality time with your children, nieces and nephews, or grandchildren as they learn about Ukrainian culture in a fun, interactive environment? We have just the workshop for you! Both these workshops are ideal for families with children aged 5-12. And reservations aren't needed – just drop in!
Introduction to Folk Arts
Sunday, May 6, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Look at items from the Museum's permanent collection and weave, embroider, sculpt, and paint your own folk art object.
Glass Painting
Sunday, May 20, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Create paintings on glass inspired by works from the Museum's collections.
For more information about our Family Programs, download our School, Youth, and Family Programs brochure.
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Wedding Plans?
Don't miss our Baking Traditional Wedding Breads workshop! You'll learn to bake and decorate a korovai – the traditional Ukrainian wedding bread, a must-have at every wedding – and to decorate a hiltse – a traditional wedding tree. This hands-on workshop, for adults and students aged 16+, takes place on Saturday, May 5, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pre-registration is required; download our Folk Art Courses and Workshops brochure for a registration form.
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June preview
Concert: Friday, June 1, 7 p.m.
Bandura Downtown closes its 2011-2012 season with a performance by artistic director Julian Kytasty showcasing his latest solo work and introducing a series of surprise guests. Join us in celebrating six full seasons of Bandura Downtown performances at The Ukrainian Museum!
Lecture: Sunday, June 3, 2 p.m.
"The Carpet Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Preservation and Display" will be the topic of Dr. Florica Zaharia's lecture, presented in conjunction with the Museum's exhibition Ukrainian Kilims: Journey of a Heritage. Dr. Zaharia is the Conservator in Charge of the Met's Department of Textile Conservation.
Annual Meeting: Sunday, June 24, 2 p.m.
All members are urged to attend the Museum's annual meeting. Meeting notices will be mailed out shortly, but please mark your calendars and plan to join us for this important annual event.
Museum joins Blue Star program
The Ukrainian Museum has joined the Blue Star Museums program, which provides free museum entrance to active-duty, National Guard, and reserve military members and their families from Memorial Day though Labor Day. The program is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families (a non-profit organization of military families), and more than 1,000 museums across the U.S.
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Now showing
Borys Kosarev: Modernist Kharkiv, 1915-1931
LAST CHANCE! Closes May 2
Virtually unknown even in his native land, the avant-garde artist Borys Kosarev (1897-1994), a survivor of Stalin's purges in 1930s Ukraine, was a painter, designer, photographer, and illustrator who worked with some of the pre-eminent creative personalities of his time. This first-ever exhibition of 82 of his works brings to light Kosarev's prodigious talent and his deep attachment to Kharkiv, the city of his birth, death, and long life. The contents of the exhibition coincide with Kharkiv's time as the capital of Ukraine (1919-1934), the rise of Constructivism, and the period of Ukrainianization, which brought with it a brief renaissance of art and culture before being brutally quashed through a series of purges and long-term repression.
Profiled on NYC-ARTS, PBS Channels 13 and 21 in New York, February 23-26.
Pysanka: The Ukrainian Easter Egg
Through May 27
Approximately 300 exquisite Easter eggs from the Museum's extensive collection, representing various regions of Ukraine. Come see the colors, patterns, and motifs; marvel at the artistry and craftsmanship; and experience the magic!
Seen in the April 5 "Eggstravaganza" episode of ABC-TV's "The Chew," and featured in a video in "The Local East Village" blog, March 30.
Ukrainian Kilims: Journey of a Heritage
Through October 21
More than 35 kilims from the Museum's permanent collection, some dating back to the 18th century, are on view in this exhibition. Many of the tapestry-like rugs were spirited out of Ukraine and transported across numerous borders by Ukrainian refugees fleeing war and the destructive Soviet occupation of Ukraine. Cherished and preserved for years after their arduous journey, the kilims were eventually entrusted to the Museum's care.
Featured in the January 27 issue of The New York Times ("Antiques on Camera and Behind Every Door / Ukrainian Weavings," page C31).
The Ukrainian Museum: 35 Years in Print
Through October 21
Since 1976, the Museum has been mounting exhibitions that educate and enthrall visitors while introducing them to the broad spectrum of Ukrainian art and culture. Drop by this exhibit to marvel at the range of subjects covered over the past 35 years, as seen through the exhibition catalogues, posters, and other documents that accompanied the Museum's exhibitions.
more
Coming soon
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A Singular Vision: Ilona Sochynsky, Retrospective of Painting
May 13 through October 7
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Photo gallery
The past month, in pictures
March 29
Film: The Desert of Forbidden Art
Professor Jane Ashton Sharp of Rutgers University introduced the film, and Odesa-born filmmaker Tchavdar Georgiev took part in a Q&A session via Skype after the screening.
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March 31
Concert: "Kilims and Constructions"
March 31
Demo: Making Pysanky
Artist Sofika Zielyk shows how to make a pysanka.
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March–April
Pysanka-making workshops
Easter fun for all!
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Header image: Kinofest NYC logo
Unless otherwise indicated, all photos © The Ukrainian Museum
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The Ukrainian Museum's film series and traditional arts programs are
supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
in partnership with the City Council.
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The Ukrainian Museum's traditional arts and education programs are funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
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