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"A New Journal About Ukrainian Folk Art"
By Orysia Paszczak Tracz
Ukrainian-Canadian Folk Art Scholar
Published in The Ukrainian Weekly
Sunday, March 10, 2002
Page 7 and 15
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
Issue 1, 1997
Cover Shows Historic Folk Painting "The True Soul Of A Cossack"
Chernihiv Art Museum.
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"The National Union of Folk Art Masters of Ukraine unites the
best folk artists, who through their creative work have preserved
and are continuing to develop the artistic traditions of the
Ukrainian people.
"So what more do you want to know about Ukrainian folk art?
You have the stuff around the house, you have read the entries
in the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine and in Ukraine: A
Concise Encyclopedia, and you have read the wonderful
catalogues of the various exhibits at The Ukrainian Museum in
New York (of course, these are much more than mere catalogues).
You have browsed through the books from Ukraine--some being
coffeetable albums with little text and many illustrations and plates,
others having much text and few pictures. Some of these may
be about the older, historical aspects of folk art. What about
the folk art being created based upon folk art? How about new
information on individual artists, about specific aspects of historical
folk art, or new designs?
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"For all of us who can never have enough of Ukrainian folk art
(it is an incurable syndrome), there is an exquisite, fairly new
publication called Narodne Mystetstvo (Folk Art). This journal
was founded in 1997 by the Union of Folk Art Masters of
Ukraine. It is edited by Volodymyr Priadka, with an editorial
committee of academics and experts in folk art. So far, eight
issues have appeared.
"This is a large, glossy, colorful quarterly magazine, full of
photographs and illustrations, and in-depth articles. Summaries
in English were first inserted on a separate sheet, but now they
are included in columns alongside the relevant article. Sometimes
the translation is quaint, but certainly much better than some of
the "translations from hell" that surface around the world. Often
there are notes to the text, and the authors' credential are listed.
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
1997, Issue No. 2
Cover Shows Folk Art Painting By Ivan Novobranets Of Poltava.
Painting Is In Honor Of The Independence Of Ukraine And Was
Painted In The Fall of 1991. (Painting Held In Private Collection
Of ArtUkraine.com)
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"Folk Art" Magazine
Issue For 1998
Cover Shows A Wood Carving By Mykhailo Miniailo from Okhtyrka,
Ukraine
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"The illustrations are clearly labeled with additional information
on the artists and the works, and are so lush that, even without
the English text, they are a delight to see and save. The covers
are eye-catching, especially the latest issue--a basketful of
exquisite Trypillian-design pysanky.
"Before 1991, the only folk art serial from Ukraine was Narodna
Tvorchist ta Etnohrafiia, which included folk art, material culture
and all aspects of ethnography. In earlier times, certain topics
were taboo or were colored with the usual Soviet brush. Since
independence, religious topics have been often included more
often, as are articles on earlier persecution of artists (e.g., kobzari)
and other aspects of hidden history. Too often, topics on crafts
include kitschy items. Somehow, to this writer at least, embroidered
icons and samplers with verses are not examples of folk art. This
magazine's forte remains the wealth of articles on people, traditions
and songs, and reviews of books.
"Narodne Mystetstvo has taken the high road. Its articles are
about traditional and new folk art--without the kitch. Where to
begin? The obvious branches of folk art are well-represented:
weaving, embroidery, costume, pottery, glass, folk painting,
folk architecture, folk iconography and wood carving. Within
these areas, there are articles on specific aspects of these subjects,
as well as on individual artists, museum collections and new trends.
For example, you can read about Hutsul pottery, pottery from
Volyn, Opishna, Poltava, Podilla, as well as the ancient yet very
modern dymlena/smoked pottery.
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"The Ukrainian Dictionary of Folk Terminology for Artistic
Wood-Processing was serialized over a few issues. Some articles
cover folk art's ties to antiquity and prehistory. There are reviews
of books and exhibits, and theoretical discussions on the direction
of folk art and its essence.
"If you are interested in more esoteric examples of folk art, there
are articles on carved wooden pipes, and spoons, woven straw
hats and 'pavuky' (straw 'spider' decorations), glass-painting,
furniture, toys, and dolls. A surprise for me was coming across
a well-illustrated article on toys and dolls. I had just seen 'The
Phenomenon of the Ukrainian Avant-Garde 1910-1935' at the
Winnepeg Art Gallery (Canada), where one case contained the
exact same dolls illustrated in this article These particular
traditional fabric dolls from the central Dnipro region do not have
regular faces. Black or red thread is wrapped around the head,
forming a cross instead of facial features.
The dolls were included in the avant-garde exhibit because they
were an inspiration for Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) from his
childhood. Later, as a prominent reformer and innovator of 20th
century art, he painted abstracted figures with faces lacking eyes
and mouth, but marked with crosses, coffins or the hammer and
sickle. In his autobiography, Malevich wrote about the 'powerful
effects the (local village) homes, clothing and rituals' had upon him.
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"Folk Art" Magazine
1999, Issue No. 1-2
Cover Shows A Folk Art Painting By Nadia Bilokin
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
1999, Issue 3-4
Cover Shows A Petrykivka Painting
By Hanna Samarska
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FYI, the exhibit is on its way to the Art Gallery of Hamilton,
Ontario, for February 9-April 7, along with an Alexander
Archipenko exhibit, and then possibly to the Edmonton Art
Gallery. A catalogue of the exhibit is available from the
Winnipeg Art Gallery Gift Shop at www.wag.mb.ca
Not only Ukraine's folk artists are covered in this journal:
the diaspora is well-represented, too. The first issue, with Kozak
Mamai on the cover, has an article about embroiderer Myroslava
Stachiw of New Jersey. She created the famous 'embroidered
map' of Ukraine, showing the country's regional designs and
stitches. Mrs. Stachiw also embroidered samples for 'Ukrainian
Folk Costume,' the bilingual book published by the World
Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations in 1992. An
article on woodcarver Mykhailo Korhan of Troy, Ohio, is in the
same issue. Tania Osadca, pysanka-writer supreme, has an
article on researchers of pysanky in issue No. 1-2 of 2001.
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
2000, Issue No. 1-2
Cover Of Magazine Shows A Ceramic Ram By Vasyl Omelianenko from
Opishnia
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I look forward to future issues and more fascinating articles
and illustrations. My only reservation is about the editor's
personal beliefs which, while given in a column clearly labeled
as opinion, include quotes from the dubious Vles Knyha, and
reflect the 'native religion' ('rynvira') leanings. One articles
mentions the 'Dazhbozhi zori' instead of just zori (stars).
"To continue to succeed, this journal needs subscribers--not
only from Ukraine but from around the world. The publisher
hopes to make the journal a quarterly. E. Morgan Williams
of ArtUkraine.com, an enthusiastic promoter of all aspects of
Ukrainian art, is the contact for subscriptions. Additional
information is available on the website www.ArtUkraine.com in the Arts Gallery.
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"The covers of all eight magazines and the table of contents
for each issue are shown on the ArtUkraine website. Information
on how to purchase the magazine can also be found on the
website. One can also contact Morgan Williams at the following
e-mail address: ArtUkraine@starpower.net His mailing
address is: P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013.
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
2000, Issue 3-4
Cover of Magazine Shows a Painting on Paper by Zoya Pasichnyk
Entitled "The Herald of Morning Dawn"
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
2001, Issue 1-2
Cover of Magazine Shows Pysanky by
Oksana Bilous and Zoya Stashuk painted
in the Trypillian Style
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"Folk
Art" Magazine
2001, Issue 3-4
Cover of Magazine Shows Horse by
Natalia Symonenko
Straw
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"A New Journal about Ukrainian Folk Art"
By Orysia Paszczak Tracz
The Ukrainian Weekly
Roma Hadzewycz, Editor-In-Chief
March 10, 2002, No. 10, Vol LXX
Published by the Ukrainian National Association
P. O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054
The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com
Copyright 2002 by Orysia Tracz
FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY
Article Posted on Website With Permisson
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