Kharkiv and Cincinnati exchange quilts as part of sister city relationship (01/24/93)

Kharkiv and Cincinnati exchange quilts as part of sister city relationship

CINCINNATI - Ukrainian artist Irena Kirilenko had never seen a quilt until Debbie Hall from the Ohio Valley Quilters' Guild (OVQG) visited Kharkiv in 1990. Ms. Hall was a member of the first Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City cultural delegation.

She hoped to inspire a group to make a friendship quilt. At the embroidery factory where she works as a designer, Ms. Kirilenko saw Ms. Hall's quilting demonstration. A seed was planted that was to grow into a life-altering experience for dozens of people from two cultures that had viewed each other with suspicion for decades.

Ms. Kirilenko took home both an exciting new idea and precious cotton printed fabric which Ms. Hall had carried to Kharkiv from OVQG members. She shared her inspiration with her husband, Oleh, himself an artist who teaches oil painting. The Kirilenkos met as students at the Kharkiv Art Institute. Ms. Kirilenko also had a post card from Ms. Hall of the Cincinnati Bicentennial Quilt which was created by OVQC members in 1988.

The Kirilenkos began their first quilt, titled "Kharkiv," representing landmarks of their city, such as the monument to poet Taras Shevchenko, cathedral domes and the Crystal Jet Fountain.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hall returned to Cincinnati disappointed, feeling that nothing was going to come of her Kharkiv quilting program. In March of 1991, a letter from the Kirilenkos and a photograph of their first quilt arrived at the home of OVQG member Jane Goodrich. Ms. Goodrich had attached her card to the piece of fabric she sent to Ukraine.

The Kirilenkos found that card - the only way they had to contact Cincinnati quilters hung on that gesture that Ms. Goodrich had thought to make. They wrote that they wished to give their first quilt to Cincinnati.

Barely two weeks after the Kirilenkos' letter arrived, OVQG member Marjorie Colon and her husband, Frank, visited Kharkiv as part of the Sister City medical delegation. The Colons met the Kirilenkos and were invited to dine in their home. Mrs. Colon gave them more fabric from guild members. The Colons saw "Kharkiv"; a second quilt, "Ukrainian Dance," in progress; and examples of their artistry in other media.

Although hampered by the necessity of communicating via a Russian-English dictionary, the parties established a mutual hope to bring the Kirilenkos and their work to Cincinnati.

The OVQG agreed to sponsor the Kirilenkos' visit. A fund-raiser "Friendship" quilt was made as a gift for the Kirilenkos. Sixty-four quilters donated six-inch blocks and $10. The sashing strip under the block carries the donor's name. The quilt is a sampler of quilting design, technique and fabric, since each donor was free to choose these elements. Non-quilters who supported the project signed the vertical sashing strips and also donated $10. Quilters and sponsors from Maine to Minnesota participated. The proceeds were used for travel and insurance expenses.

Lydia Revinskaya was invited to accompany the Kirilenkos as their interpreter. Ms. Hall met Ms. Revinskaya in Kharkiv in the sewing room of a school. Ms. Revinskaya had visited the school the previous day for the purpose of enrolling her little daughter. The school principal, learning that Ms. Revinskaya is an English teacher, asked her to come back the next day to assist with translation for the large group of Cincinnatians who were going to visit the school. So, when Ms. Hall saw some applique pieces on the sewing room bulletin board and needed an interpreter, Ms. Revinskaya appeared to help. During their brief encounter addresses were exchanged. A treasured friendship has grown out of their correspondence.

Ms. Revinskaya and the Kirilenkos arrived in the U.S. on October 20, 1992. They stayed in Alexandria, Va., with quilter Chris Stitcher who showed them the sights of the nation's capital. On October 24, Ms. Colon took them by car to her home in Cincinnati.

The OVQG and the Cincinnati/Kharkiv Sister City Project sponsored a Ukrainian Art Show at the Pendleton Art Center in Cincinnati featuring the Kirilenkos' work. In addition to three quilts, the show included silk and cotton batik, pen and ink drawings of the architecture of old Kharkiv, and inlaid felt pieces called "applicatsia."

The show opened October 29, 1992, with the Kirilenkos present to formally give their first quilt, "Kharkiv," to the OVQG for the enjoyment of the people of Cincinnati. The guild made an exchange quilt, "Cincinnati," for the people of Kharkiv. Musical entertainment for the opening was performed on the balalaika and the kobza by Brian DeLay, a classical guitarist who had recently visited Kharkiv.

Highlights of the Ukrainians' agenda were appearances before the Ohio Valley Quilters' Guild of Cincinnati and the Frankfort, Ky., guild with guests from Lexington and Louisville. They also visited Russian classes at St. Xavier High School and sixth grade social studies classes at Dehshire elementary school. Ms. Revinskaya's Kharkiv students acquired many new pen pals.

On November 5, 1992, they left Cincinnati to drive to Lake Hiawatha, N.J., with guild members Barbara Grothaus and Barbara Leinhart. Their new hostess, pen pal Eva Clift, introduced them to New York City, including the fabulous Metropolitan Museum.

On November 9, 1992, New York City quilter Karen Berkenfeld took our visitors to the Marc Chagall exhibit and home for tea. Carter Huock, contributing editor of Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts magazine generously provided a farewell dinner and hotel suite in Manhattan for their last night in America.

Thus, the modest idea with which Ms. Hall had begun in 1990 has grown like ripples on a pond. Quilters across America opened their homes and hearts to these three extraordinary Ukrainians and were amply rewarded by their warmth, charm and talent.

In Cincinnati a representative from the Voice of America interviewed the Kirilenkos regarding quilting and their experiences in the U.S.

What is next? Perhaps a Cincinnati Quilt Show in Kharkiv. There are many quilters who are eager to see these Ukrainian friends again.

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