UKE-EYE (12/26/76)

UKE-EYE

by Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj

QUESTION: What's your impression of this new Ukrainian Museum?

(Asked at the October 3, 1976, opening of the Ukrainian Museum, located at 203 Second Avenue, New York City 10003, a project of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.)

JOSE CASANOVA, Jersey City, N.J., sociology student: It's important that New York City should have a Ukrainian museum, since this is a major city not only of the U.S. but also the world, and many Ukrainian people live here. The fact that this is a folk art museum is also most appropriate, since it is the folk arts, more so than fine arts, which bring out the special characteristics of a national culture. The exhibit is done very professionally: it's not overdone, and there's a good selection of objects for display. I'd like to come back again after the opening day crowds have thinned out.

VOLODYMYR SKULSKI, Sao Paolo, Brazil, chemist: I am very moved that I could be present at the opening of this beautiful repository of history and culture of the Ukrainian people. In our Ukrainian communities in Brazil, we have small art collections associated with various organizations, but the exhibition here is truly an impressive one. In my travels outside Brazil, I have seen several Ukrainian art centers, and this one ranks very high in my estimation.

LESIA KOLCIO-MATIJCIO, Jersey City, N.J., painter: This is a monumental achievement. I would be proud to bring my interested non-Ukrainian friends here. This exhibition is small but I'm sure it will expand with time. The museum's central location in the Ukrainian community of New York's Lower East Side is crucial. I most definitely plan to come back again and again. One suggestion: this is 1976. In addition to the traditional objects of art, why not have one small section of the museum devoted to modernized Ukrainian folk arts, for example, improvisations on traditional embroidery designs using blues and pinks? Many people would be fascinated by contemporary variations on an ancient tradition.

KONSTANTYN SZONK-RUSYCH, New York City, artist: It is wonderful that we have this new museum in our community. People should welcome it, support it financially, and donate valuable folk art objects from their own collections to this institution. Constructive criticisms of this present exhibition? Most of the emphasis is on objects from western Ukraine, whereas it's Kievan art that should dominate. After all, Kiev was Ukraine's cultural center. More aspects of art (enamel, gravure) could be represented, not only ceramics and embroidery. And what are American coins doing on a Ukrainian headdress?

VERA SUSHKIW, New York City, businesswoman: I was involved in cataloguing and working with the UNWLA's folk art collection for ten years, before it was housed in this new building. I'm delighted that our collection has finally found a home, after so many decades of migration from one location to another. I'm sure all the members of Soyuz Ukrainok share this sentiment. This exhibition is only the beginning: we will expand the collection to include textiles, sculpture, folk costumes and other aspects of Ukrainian art, from all parts of Ukraine. This Museum is the only one of its kind in New York State, and it's a testimony to the hard work and organizational skills of so many of the women in our organization.

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Readers:

What are your ideas about some of the issues raised in "UKE-EYE"? Send your opinions and suggestions to UKE-EYE, c/o Anisa H. Sawyckyj, 423 W. 120 St., New York City 10027.

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