THE THINGS WE DO...: Traditions on display at The Bay (02/22/98)

THE THINGS WE DO...

by Orysia Paszczak Tracz

Traditions on display at The Bay

The group was ready. All the young Kozak needed was a touch-up. Those last few hairs out of place on his forehead had to be fixed. And that's how Stephania Hewryk happened to be embracing the male mannequin in the Portage Avenue display window of The Bay in Winnipeg, Manitoba - at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening, Sviat Vechir, January 6 - in full view of the crowd standing on the street admiring the windows.

She had no time to remember that the windows were no longer draped - she had a fully dressed mannequin in her arms, and he was not steady on his feet. Though he was no longer attached to the plastic line that held him to the floor, she could not lay him prone on the floor of the display area. Even though she tried calling for help, and the access door to the window was open, it was so removed from the main store area that no one heard. It was at that moment that she turned towards the street, and saw all these faces looking at her in amazement - and laughter. One woman was barely standing, she was laughing so hard. They were laughing not only at her - and his - pose, but at the expression on Mrs. Hewryk's face. Finally, the young Kozak was leaned against the wall, away from the other mannequins (to avoid their toppling, too), and Mrs. Hewryk dashed to find help from the display staff.

This was not her only [mis]adventure. Then there was the case of the china for the table. One of the windows showed a family at home at the Sviat Vechir table. Along with the authentic bowls from the museum collection of Oseredok, some regular dishes were required. The display director told Mrs. Hewryk to pick out some china from the store's department. She did, and then asked the cashier whether she needed to sign any voucher that the china was being removed. As the line of customers grew behind Mrs. Hewryk, the cashier asked, "Is this for the Ukrainian Christmas display in the windows? No problem."

However, it was the pants that almost got Stephania Hewryk involved with the authorities. Two male mannequins needed pants, and the ones from the costume collection were too narrow to dress the models without damage to the fabric (the legs were not removable). Again, off she went 10 minutes before store closing, this time to the men's casual clothing department. With two pairs of dark sweat pants (amazing how from a distance they could look just like the Hutsul "hachi") over her arm (no bag, no receipt), Mrs. Hewryk rode down the elevator to the first floor. The Bay has good security, because already on the elevator, a woman watched her closely. On the first floor, Mrs. Hewryk did not walk, she ran, toward the front of the store. She noticed two people talking into cell phones near each front exit looking right at her, most probably waiting for her to leave the store with the pants. Instead she headed straight for - the windows. The store manager heard about this later.

The windows, the mannequins and Stephania Hewryk were all part of the special activities at The Bay in Winnipeg to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas traditions. The Bay is the new store name for Hudson's Bay Co., the oldest department store in Canada. For many years (as Oksana Bashuk Hepburn wrote in The Ukrainian Weekly last year), one small window was devoted in January to Ukrainian Christmas. Last year, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Center (Oseredok), the whole downtown department store "became" Ukrainian for most of January, with displays, exhibits, demonstrations, and concerts, including a special New Year's celebration. The Paddlewheel, The Bay's cafeteria, served a selection of Ukrainian food. Brian Read, the manager, mentioned that in the spring, people were still asking for the borsch.

This year, the Ukrainian Christmas celebration at The Bay was sponsored by the Winnipeg branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, and Carpathia Credit Union. This year's events included an exhibit of art by children from the Ukrainian-English Bilingual Program, K-6 from seven school divisions in the province, the St. Nicholas' Boutique, an elegant shop featuring items from the Oseredok Boutique; Ukrainian-theme displays on every floor at the elevator landings; Saturday concerts in the Paddlewheel Cafeteria, along with the Ukrainian food specials; and a very large exhibit area of the first floor with featured artists and cultural exhibits. And, in the five windows that face Portage Avenue (Winnipeg's main downtown street), a Ukrainian Christmas theme featuring folk costumes from the Yaroslava Tatarniuk Collection, on loan to Oseredok, was displayed.

Yaroslava Tatarniuk of Vancouver has been collecting folk costumes for almost 50 years. Her collection was on exhibit in the museum of Oseredok twice, and Zenon Hluszok, archivist and program coordinator of Oseredok, approached me with the idea of using the Tatarniuk Collection for the Christmas display at The Bay. Instead of the one small window facing Memorial Boulevard as in previous years, The Bay wanted the five main windows on Portage Avenue to be Ukrainian. The backdrop colors of each window (gold, silver, red, green, and violet) remained, and would need to be incorporated into each display. The Bay display department would provide the mannequins, props and technical assistance. I had to come up with the ideas. After letting the project "marinate" for a few weeks, I sketched some ideas, and then worked with Mr. Hluszok on the props from both the Oseredok museum collection and The Bay.

The five windows featured: the visit of Sviatyi Mykolai (St. Nicholas); Hutsul region - koliadnyky; Borshchiv region - featuring the "Rizdvo" stained glass window (a copy, of course, generously provided by the artist) by Leo Mol (Leonid Molodozhanin) from the Cathedral of Ss. Vladimir and Olga in Winnipeg; a didukh theme, with a variety of costumes from all regions; and a Sviat Vechir display - Horodenka region.

Having an idea is easy, but producing five finished windows can be quite intimidating. I was fortunate that two dedicated and talented volunteers helped me so selflessly: Vera Hrycenko, a long-time supporter and volunteer at Oseredok, and Mrs. Hewryk, a very knowledgeable person on many things Ukrainian. We had the help of The Bay's display staff, but at times it was difficult for them to understand certain Ukrainian nuances, for example; red ponytail wigs just wouldn't do; some made-up faces seemed completely inappropriate to a Ukrainian costume; a sitting mannequin had to be replaced when the first one supplied was practically cross-legged (couldn't even imagine her in a Borschiv costume); yes, the chin-length wig for the male Hutsul was just fine.

Dressing mannequins in ordinary clothes is difficult enough; Ukrainian folk costumes pose additional problems. I don't know if I am good at twisting arms, but I have now become adept at removing and replacing arms and hands. This is especially necessary when the model's arm is at a particular angle, or when the fingers are so open that they cannot fit through the opening of a tightly sewn 100-year-old shirt. My sketched ideal plans were quickly adjusted based on what was available and possible.

To my surprise, the display windows are quite narrow, not as deep as they seem from the street. They are not insulated, so until you start moving, the blast of cold air is quite invigorating. Time was extremely limited and decisions were made quickly, sometimes desperately, about which costume, which mannequin, which prop will or will not do. Mrs. Hewryk brought some items from home to supplement what we had on hand, for example, the beard for Sviatyi Mykolai. She even had white-grey eyebrows to tape on to the saint. Irena Zadravec kindly lent angel costumes for this window, which shows the Ukrainian version of a child receiving presents.

Originally, we were to complete the five windows in two days: Saturday (all day) and Sunday (12-5). Hah! After the Christmas break, I had to return to my full-time job on Monday, and Tuesday was Sviat Vechir. I am so grateful that Mrs. Hewryk was there for two more days, finishing up the windows and all the details. She did a remarkable job, especially since she came in on Monday after having a tooth extracted that morning. Ms. Hrycenko had been hesitant to help at first, because as she told her sister, she had no experience with costumes. Oksana Rozumna encouraged her to help, saying that she could at least hold the hammer. We did not handle hammers, but Ms. Hrycenko did much more than that, providing both excellent ideas as well as plain hard labor. As the Oseredok coordinator with The Bay, Mr. Hluszok was most helpful and patient in the general planning, and with the constant calls for pick-up of another article and kindly provided shuttle service for us (we felt like illegal laborers, riding in the van along with display cases and props). Even his son Adam helped as an official "go-fer."

Preparing even a small exhibit is difficult, and when your work is so public, visible to the whole population of the city, you worry even more about the result. Of course, there will be complaints or criticisms about this or that detail, but this was, after all, not an authentic museum exhibition, just a window display - meant to showcase the beauty of Ukrainian costumes within a Christmas theme. With the gorgeous costumes and meaningful traditions, how can we go wrong? The comments have been most positive and Mr. Read, The Bay's manager, even overheard people talking about the store windows at Winnipeg International Airport.

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