"Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" premieres in Montreal (12/13/98)

"Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" premieres in Montreal

MONTREAL - The international exhibition "Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" explores the history and archaeology of the Ukrainian steppes, giving a representative overview from the Paleolithic to late antiquity.

The international exhibition is the joint effort of the Institute of Archaeology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and host museums in Canada and the U.S.

The exhibition presents a collection of 350 highly significant pieces on loan from the Institute of Archaeology in Kyiv, including objects that have been recently discovered. Many of the artifacts are being exhibited for the first time in North America.

In featuring archaeological riches from the Ukrainian steppes, the exhibit highlights sites from the Paleolithic Age and the Trypillian culture of the Neolithic, and goes on to explore the Cimmerian, Scythian and Sarmatian civilizations, as well as the Olbia site at the mouth of the Dnipro, representing the ancient Greek presence on the northern shores of the Black Sea.

The pieces exhibited date from the Stone Age to the third century A.D. Among artifacts on display are mammoth bones, pottery, figurines, tools, harness ornaments, weapons, as well as magnificent gold jewelry and ceremonial items, and clothing. The majority of items were found in kurhans, or burial mounds.

"Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" had its world premiere in Montreal at Pointe-à-Callière, the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, where it opened on October 7, and will run through February 7, 1999.

The museum's director, Francine Lelièvre, considers the exhibit "... an extremely significant collection in terms of what it adds to our knowledge and of its very high quality and great rarity. It is also an international first for Montreal, as it is one of the rare collections of its kind not to have been exhibited around the world."

Pointe-à-Callière, which opened in 1992, is known for its innovative approach to museology both in Europe and the U.S. and is held up as a model to be emulated in many fields.

The exhibition hall at Pointe-à-Callière has been transformed to give the antiquities, arranged in chronological order and by theme, the setting they deserve. A multimedia fresco recreates the atmosphere of the steppes in the first millennium, bringing the immensity of the steppes to life, with the thundering charge of mounted nomad warriors.

The exhibition introduces visitors to the civilizations that forged Ukraine, in particular the nomad herdsmen, horsemen and warriors who ranged through this land - a natural corridor between Europe and Asia, leaving a precious heritage illustrating their lifestyle and refined culture.

The Ukrainian curator for the "Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" exhibition is Prof. Denys Kozak of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The exhibition at Pointe-à-Callière was organized by Ms. Lelièvre, the museum's director, with Michel Lambert, as guest curator for the exhibit.

Among the scientific advisors to the exhibition are Elena Fialko, Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; and Véronique Schiltz, an eminent Scythian specialist from Paris and author of the catalogue essay titled "Ukraine Rediscovered: History and Archaeology."

The essay deals with the issue of Ukrainian identity as distinct from a Russian one in terms of "historic roots and ethnogenesis of the different peoples," the controversies regarding the Kyivan Rus' state, and the need to go further back into the archeological past of the Ukrainian steppes - the crucible of the Ukrainian identity.

Ms. Schiltz writes that "The Ukrainian identity has been forged from many different ores. It is nonetheless real, and the Ukrainian state, at once very young and very old, is determined to reclaim its past in all its diversity."

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, with prefaces by Piotr (Petro) Tolochko, eminent archaeologist and director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Point-à-Callière Museum Director Ms. Lelièvre. Among contributors to the catalogue are Prof. Kozak, Ms. Fialko, Mr. Lambert, Annick Poussart and Ms. Schiltz.

Transliteration of proper names, as well as archaeological terms as they appear in the catalogue and in the descriptive texts of the exhibit, are, unfortunately, from Russian, not Ukrainian. Thus one encounters such terms as "kurgan" rather than "kurhan," "Soboleva Mogila" rather than "Mohyla," etc.

Following its world premiere in Montreal, the collection will travel in the United States, visiting the Arts Museum of San Antonio (October 1999-January 2000); the Walters Gallery in Baltimore (March to May 2000); the County Museum of Los Angeles (July-September 2000) and the Brooklyn Art Museum (October 2000-January 2001); with Boston still to be confirmed.

"Treasures from the Ukrainian Steppes" is currently on view at Point-à-Callière; the museum is located at 350 Place Royale, corner of de la Commune, in Old Montreal. For more information call (514) 872-9150; website, http://www.musee-Pointe-a-Calliere.qc.ca/.

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