A festive opening for Invitation to a Wedding

New York (December 6, 2010) – Joy was in the air and on the faces of the more than 150 Museum members who attended the December 4 preview of the exhibition Invitation to a Wedding: Ukrainian Wedding Textiles and Traditions. Guests were greeted at the door with music and song by a lively, traditional Hutsul band, and the festive atmosphere continued throughout the evening, culminating in a sumptuous buffet prepared by Museum Trustee Yaroslawa Luchechko and a score of volunteers, and with guests taking home souvenir dough-birds, just as they would from a traditional Ukrainian wedding.

Invitation to a Wedding: Ukrainian Wedding Textiles and Traditions is a lavish exhibition that surveys the ancient rituals associated with traditional Ukrainian weddings and their unique interpretation in today’s "traditional" weddings. It includes more than 150 items and 24 complete wedding outfits, and is complemented by a fully illustrated, 224-page color catalogue. An accompanying exhibit of Wedding Embroidery from Eastern Podillia, from the private collection of Tetiana and Evhen Prychepii of Kyiv, showcases a unique form of Ukrainian folk art that has preserved the most archaic symbolic ornamental motifs. Wedding Embroidery from Eastern Podillia will be on view through October 2; Invitation to a Wedding will be on view through January 11, 2012 (EXTENDED).

Major funding both for planning and for implementation of Invitation to a Wedding: Ukrainian Wedding Textiles and Traditions was provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd. Funding was also provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; Peter & Doris Kule Centre for Ukrainian & Canadian Folklore; Self Reliance (NY) Federal Credit Union; and individual sponsors.

About the Museum
The Ukrainian Museum was founded in 1976 by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America as a showcase for Ukrainian culture. Since 1976, the Museum has amassed extensive collections of folk art, fine art, and archival material. It mounts several exhibitions annually; publishes accompanying bilingual catalogues; organizes courses, workshops, and other educational programs; and hosts a variety of public events. In April 2005 the Museum moved into a new, state-of-the-art facility in New York's East Village, funded entirely by the Ukrainian American community.