On September 12, 2008 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada of the Ukrainian
Women’s Association of Canada hosted the opening of their latest exhibit – Ukrainian
Weddings.
Ukrainian Weddings, a multi-media display, was developed by the staff at
the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta for its initial launch at the 2007 Ukrainian Festival
at Harbourfront in Toronto, Ontario. The exhibit is
a series of panels and videos that explore Ukrainian wedding traditions through
four different times and settings. These
settings include classic Ukrainian traditions from Ukrainian villages of the
1800s; a 1995 Bukovynian village wedding, wedding traditions from pre-1940 Western Canada and post-1970 Ukrainian wedding traditions. The Saskatoon exhibit also has antique Ukrainian wedding headpieces,
examples of korovaii – a traditional wedding bread – and an authentic
wedding dress made by one of the Kule Folklore Centre donors – Mrs. Anna
Kuryliw – who made the dress in her Ukrainian village in 1936 and brought to Canada for her wedding to Wasyl Kuryliw.
Several members from the Kule Folklore
Centre were on hand for the opening of the exhibit which featured refreshments
and hors d’oeuvres and a cymbaly player who greeted the 130
guests at the exhibit entrance. Nadya
Foty, Archivist of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Archives was instrumental in
arranging the exhibit collaboration with the museum. Foty and Dr. Andriy
Nahachewsky, Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography and Director of
the Kule Folklore Centre, spoke to the audience about the Kule Folklore Centre
and its role as the leader of Ukrainian Folklore outside of Ukraine. They noted that
the Kule Folklore Centre is committed to the exploration and documentation of
Ukrainian and Canadian culture through teaching, research, archiving and publishing,
scholarships, and active community engagement.
Folklore and ethnology are the study of arts, customs, beliefs, songs,
crafts, and traditions, as well as the people who partake in them.
The exhibit, which has been shown at
the Moncton Museum (New
Brunswick),
Vegreville Pysanka Festival, several Edmonton events, and Folkfest in Saskatoon, will be at Saskatoon’s Ukrainian Museum until early November.