Month: March 20, 2020 4:49 am

LVIV – Eugene Walden and his daughter traveled to Lviv from the U.S.A. He has taken part twice – during the summers of 2018 and 2019 – in the School of Ukrainian Language and Culture of the Ukrainian Catholic University and does not plan on stopping his studies. In a conversation last fall with this writer, he shared details about what inspires him in this endeavor and what impressions remain after his time spent at UCU.

What motivated you to study the Ukrainian language?

My mother was born in Ukraine and I in a town near Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. When I was little, I knew some Ukrainian. I learned it from Mama, who spoke it with her parents. Later I entered the University of Michigan, which has a special Ukrainian language program, and met noted professor Assya Humesky, and there also I returned to the language. I finished university very long ago, 30 years, and had no opportunities to practice my skills further.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – “At the Front Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013-2019” explores how visual artists interpret and conceptualize the turbulent political and cultural situation in Ukraine of the last six years: from the civil protests in Kyiv (2013-2014) to the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the military conflict with Russia in the east of the country (2014-today).

The project aims to talk about Ukraine using the visual language of the artistic works and to discuss the significance and possibilities of art and artists in the context of the war. It will help fuel an international dialogue about how the artists reflect on civil protests of the Maidan and the war with Russia, and how the situation encourages art production at the frontline.

It seems that every Ukrainian creates his or her own image of Taras Shevchenko. Worldwide, nearly 1,100 memorials have portrayed the Ukrainian poet-artist as variously young or old, in folk attire or imperially slim, with furrowed brow or distant gaze. But eccentric? Humorous? Romantic?

Yet this was precisely the way director Aleksandr Denysenko intended to “humanize” the bard of Ukraine in his 2019 film “Taras: The Return,” which was screened at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York on Sunday, February 16. To accommodate viewer interest, an additional showing was added.

CHICAGO – On a sunny and warm Sunday, February 16, attendees at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art basked in the warmth of the beautiful sounds emanating from overachieving minors, each blessed with copious musical talent.  To say they were thrilled by the performance of the six very gifted young Ukrainian musicians would be an understatement.

In a program developed by Michael Holian, chair of the Music Committee at the Institute, and Andriy Chuiko, six outstanding young musicians, ranging in age from 10 to 17, were selected. Each of the performers is known in the Ukrainian community from previous performances on special holidays and commemorative events. All of them have also demonstrated their hard work and ambition by winning either first- or second-place honors in regional, national or international competitions.

NORTH PORT, Fla. – Irene Copie and Bohdana Puzyk, members of Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Branch 56 in North Port, Fla., conducted a demonstration of Ukrainian crafts and a discussion of Ukrainian culture and traditions at the Sarasota Embroidery Guild in nearby Sarasota on February 24.

Both women shared family stories, discussed the Ukrainian language and heritage, and demonstrated the art of making traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky, while explaining the meaning of their various colors and symbols.

Although the guild was most focused on traditional Ukrainian embroidery and methods, Mss. Copie and Puzyk’s demonstration and talk got the attendees out of their seats for a better view.

“Strangers in a Strange Church? New Faces of Ukrainian Catholicism in Canada,” by Christopher Guly. Toronto: Novalis, 2019. 96 pp. ISBN 978-2-89688-747-7.

How do others see us? We rarely have an opportunity to find out. It may happen through the indiscretion of a third party. We may be disappointed or simply shocked by what even our closest friends think of us. And yet sometimes, we are pleasantly surprised. We may discover that we possess attractive traits of which we had not been aware.

It was a most challenging first five years in the NBA for Alex Len. Drafted by Phoenix as the fifth overall pick in 2013, the Ukrainian’s career did not pan out the way most may have expected.

After signing a qualifying offer with Phoenix in 2017, Len opted for unrestricted free agency in 2018, electing to sign a two-year deal with Atlanta. The Hawks viewed Len as a part of their present and future. He’s only 25 years old with lots of upside, capable of providing rim protection on defense and a big body to set screens to get the skill guys open looks on offense.

KYIV – On the first day after his appointment as Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal mentioned the possibility of renewing the water supply from mainland Ukraine to the occupied Crimean peninsula. He was speaking on the “Right to Power” program on the 1+1 television channel on the evening of March 5.

“The issue of supplying water to occupied Crimea is not a matter of trade with the invader. It is not a matter of business. It is a matter of humanitarian responsibility before people who live in Crimea. Failure to supply water will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe... We won’t turn the water off at the mainline... We cannot stop giving water to Ukrainians,” Mr. Shmyhal said.

OTTAWA – At the conclusion of his first official visit to Ukraine as Canada’s foreign affairs minister, François-Philippe Cham­pagne told reporters back home that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is assisting Ukrainian police in their criminal investigation of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane that Iran said its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accidentally shot down on January 8.

“We always said from the beginning that we want to bring closure, accountability, transparency and justice – and this is the justice part,” said Mr. Champagne in a March 6 teleconference from Lviv. “We want to do everything we can to support [Ukraine] because obviously this was a Ukrainian airline flight, so we’re supporting Ukraine in their criminal investigation of those that would be responsible.”

WASHINGTON – The 11th U.S.-Ukraine Security Dialogue took place in Washington on Thursday, March 5. The full-day conference was presented at the National Press Club as a collaborative effort of the Center for U.S.-Ukrainian Relations (CUSUR), the American Foreign Policy Council, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

In addition to the two dozen senior U.S. and Ukrainian strategists as well as defense and security experts who presented at the conference, were the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States of America Volodymyr Yelchenko, as well as his successor as the permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Serhiy Kyslytsya.

Ukraine acts to prevent coronavirus spread

The Ukrainian government has decided to ban mass gatherings and to close schools and universities for three weeks in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The government said in a statement on March 11 that it was banning all mass events with more than 200 expected participants. Some sporting events might go ahead with the agreement of the relevant international organizations, but without spectators. The government also banned until June 1 the export of masks and other gear to ensure there are no shortages of protective equipment. The statement did not say when the measures would come into force. The coronavirus outbreak has infected more than 117,000 people globally and killed over 4,200. Ukraine’s only confirmed coronavirus patient is a resident of the southwestern region of Chernivtsi who had recently traveled to Italy. Earlier in the day, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that schools and universities in the Ukrainian capital would be closed until the end of March, as part of “preventive measures” against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

During the Middle Ages, the waterways linking the Baltic and the Black seas were a far more important trade corridor than any land routes linking Europe with what was to become Russia. Twenty years ago, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the European Union called for developing this older route to handle modern barge traffic via Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

Those plans were celebrated in stamps jointly issued by Ukraine and Estonia in 2003; but to date, relatively little progress has followed. Now, these plans finally appear to be taking off, which could dramatically change the economies of Belarus and Ukraine, linking them more closely with Europe and thus giving them a greater chance to escape from under Russian dominance.