FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
Dr. Jelena Pogosjan
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Our exhibit, “Images of Faith, Hope & Beauty” has come to an end. The collaborative initiative brought together over 100 pieces of Ukrainian Canadian icons and iconostatsis from national and international collections through a collaboration with local museums, archives, and organizations including the Pioneers Association of Alberta, St. John's Institute, Ukrainian Canadian Archives & Museum of Alberta, Ukrainian Museum of Canada – Alberta Branch, Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada Museum, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, and the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives at the University of Alberta.
The last day of the exhibit, January 28th, was quite exciting and featured two guided tours. We plan to document everything that was included in the exhibit - every icon, banner, and iconostasis sketch. In the future, we hope to publish a catalogue to make sure that this exhibit is not forgotten.
Overall, the exhibit was a great experience with plenty of visitors, groups of school children, three university classes, and very warm and meaningful comments. Viewers described the exhibit as "Inspiring", "Amazing", "Well Organized with Excellent Material", and "Sacred and Serene". We were excited to share the story of icon writing with our community and thank all who visited the exhibit and lecture series.
The Kule Folklore Centre is now starting to work on our next exhibit. It will be a travelling exhibit titled, “Love Letters from the Past: Courtship, Companionship, and Family in the Ukrainian Canadian Community”. It will be launched on May 11th at the Kule Folklore Centre’s archival conference "Ukrainian Archival Collections in Canada - Preserving the Past, Building the Future" and will travel around Canada during 2018 and early 2019.
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IMAGES OF FAITH, HOPE, & BEAUTY EXHIBIT: LECTURE SERIES
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Photo: Dr. Jelena Pogosian
Three lectures were held in January, in conjunction with the exhibit,"Images of Faith, Hope, & Beauty". These lectures were part of this term's Kule Folklore Centre "Folklore Luncheons" that also included Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky's and artist Oleksandr Klymenko's presentations in December.
On January 12, Jars Balan, CIUS Director/ Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre, presented “Ukrainian Churches of Kalyna Country.”
Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography, Natalie Kononenko presented "Personal Experiences of the Sacred", on January 20.
"Iconographers from Ukraine Working on the Canadian Prairies" was presented on January 27, by Professor Emeritus, John-Paul Himka.
All three presentations held at the Enterprise Square Gallery were well received by a full house of students, faculty, and guests. A video recording of this session will soon be available on the Kule Folklore Centre Youtube channel.
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Archival Conference
Ukrainian Archival Collections in Canada:
Preserving the Past, Building the Future
11-13 May, 2018
Edmonton - University of Alberta
The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers, archivists, curators, collection managers, and other custodians of Ukrainian Canadian archival collections in order to start a conversation among stewards of Ukrainian cultural documentary heritage. This conference aims to increase awareness about Ukrainian heritage collections in Canada, survey problem areas and needs of archival collections.
The goals of the conference are:
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To understand who has what type of archival records, their scope and extent, and how they can be accessed.
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To introduce those who are preserving archival records to each other, and to open up a way to share information among them.
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To develop a network for cooperation and sharing of information.
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To provide an understanding of available resources (preservation and conservation assistance, funding sources, archival societies as support systems, researcher needs).
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To raise awareness of the value of archives as institutions and as documentary records.
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This conference is organized by the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives/Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta and the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Society in cooperation with the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta.
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GRAD STUDENT NEWS
PhD student Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn has taken over teaching SLAV 399: Early Traditions- Ukrainian Canadian Culture this term. In SLAV 399 students explore the early history of Canada and Alberta's first and largest Ukrainian settlement period. This course provides participants with information about traditions and customs, material culture, spiritual culture, media and communication of the time, settlement history, and the importance of language and dialect in understanding culture.
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Promotional Poster SLAV 399: Early Traditions: Ukrainian Canadian Culture
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The Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre (FUFC) generously provide scholarships to promote Ukrainian ethnology through the study of arts, customs, beliefs, and other traditions.
The Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre Dance Award provides five students a year with the opportunity to pursue advanced education, at the post-secondary level, in Ukrainian dance theory and history through a $1000 award. Members of the board of directors of FUFC review all applications and choose the successful scholarship recipients based on criteria of dance history, a video submission and a written essay. This year's recipients are:
Kayla Gulka
Victoria Kostyniuk
Tesia Doblianko
The Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre Student Award provides valuable financial assistance to undergraduate university students to pursue post-secondary education in Ukrainian folklore that will also enhance the awareness of Ukrainian folklore within the community. Up to 24 awards of $250 each are awarded annually to undergraduate students enrolled in Ukrainian Folklore courses at the University of Alberta. Scholarships will be awarded based on performance (academic standing). This award is issued at the completion of each term based on FUFC Board's review. This year's recipients are:
Nicholas Fialka
Tomas Hucul
Natalia Kostiuk
Carson McLean
Paige Pichette
For more information about these awards please go to: http://www.ukrfolk.ualberta.ca/StudyingFolklore/ScholarshipsandAwards/GeneralAward.aspx
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ALUMNI NEWS
Ukrainian Folklore graduates come from various backgrounds and have gone on to apply their knowledge in a variety of fields.
Sogu Hong has traveled a long, successful path from receiving his MA in Ukrainian Folklore at the University of Alberta in 1998 based on his thesis "Mykola Kostomarov and Ukrainian Folklore" to becoming the Dean of Academic Affairs at the Global Campus at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea.
Sogu came to the University of Alberta in the mid-90s with a BA and a MA from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to pursue his first degree in Ukrainian Folklore. He then went on to pursue his PhD at the University of Alberta, successfully defending his thesis, "Ukrainian Canadian Weddings as Expressions of Ethnic Identity: Contemporary Edmonton Traditions" in 2005.
The first exhibit that the Kule Folklore Centre developed and toured across Canada was based on the research done by Sogu Hong and fellow research Nadya Foty-Oneschuk on Ukrainian Weddings.
Upon returning to South Korea, Sogu helped to establish the first Department of Ukrainian Studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and then became a professor there.
He continued to work with the University of Alberta in an academic book exchange to establish a Ukrainian library at Hankuk as well as initiating a collaboration between the Kule Folklore Centre and the Korean Association of Central and Eastern European Studies and Balkan Studies on an international conference in 2011 - “Two Decades Later: Post-Soviet Transformations in the Balkans and Eastern and Central Europe.”
As well as continuing as a professor in the Ukrainian Studies Department, Sogu is currently the Dean of Academic Affairs at Hankuk. We wish Sogu every success in his future endeavors!
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MONTHLY PROVERB
Dr. Bohdan Medwidsky
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Менше знаєш, краще спиш
The less you know, the better you sleep
Listen to Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky explain this proverb
on 740 CFCW
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