Dear Editor:
It was gratifying to read about the celebration on July 21 at the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, of the 125th anniversary of the arrival to Canada of the first Ukrainian immigrants (July 31 issue). I came because my parents arrived here in 1928 and 1930 – poor, uneducated, not knowing the language, confused and frightened. Like thousands of other persons from the old world, they persevered and prospered.
In a park in Halifax there is a bronze sculpture constructed in 1992. It is meant to be a tribute to those first Ukrainians in Canada. Unfortunately, it is an embarrassment. It looks a bit like an oddly shaped and draped female figure holding something – but not really. The thing is neither abstract nor representational. I find the imagery confusing and more than a bit obscure in spite of an explanation at the bottom of the piece. It states that “[t]he bread and salt placed on an embroidered towel is a tradition Ukrainian welcome representing life and the new life Canada had to offer.” Another one on the other side claims that “[t]he two draped Canadian flags of 1891 and 1991 represent the marriage of the past and present in their new country Canada.” What flags?
Much as those of us of Ukrainian descent appreciate having a tribute to our ancestors in the city, we do not consider this particular piece of work to be ideal. I have been angered and embarrassed by it since first seeing it years ago. Everyone to whom I have shown it since, Ukrainian or not, agrees with me. I learned that that includes those visitors last week to Halifax, including artist Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn, mentioned in the article published in The Weekly. One heard words like “appalling,” “joke” and “insult.”
When I raised the matter with the members of our local Ukrainian-Canadian Association, they asked me to find out what can be done to replace it. Therefore, I have written to the office of the mayor of Halifax. Ideally, I think that a national, or even international, competition could come up with something that would be suitable for the site.
Comments and suggestions are welcome. I will let you know what the mayor says.
Halifax, Nova Scotia