Throughout life, a person must be in search of knowledge, sources of inspiration and admiration, and wonder - even despite the negative emotions that haunt us during the war. I was reminded of this on May 18, when the staff of our university traditionally planted viburnum trees near the building of the Denysenko Scientific and Technical Library (STL).
This event, as well as several others described below, brought together a large faculty and student community. Preserving our culture and nature are two vital tasks. This was repeatedly stated by the participants of the solemn procession to the monument to Igor Sikorsky on the occasion of the Day of Vyshyvanka. Similar thoughts were expressed by the organizers and guests of the opening ceremony of the exhibition project "Blessed Ukraine," which took place a little later in the lobby of the library's first floor.
A peculiar combination of time planes and artistic skill took place during the moments of familiarization with the photo exhibitions with eloquent titles: "Woman. War. Life", "Parents' House", "From Baby to Beauty". The visitors' attention was also drawn to the exposition of decorative and applied arts "Unbreakable Motanka Doll", where, in addition to thematic unique needlework made of threads and fabrics, there was also a place for stands with jewelry (dukachas, beaded necklaces, stylized maiden and wedding wreaths made according to ancient technologies, etc.) from Yulia Kykot, a craftswoman from Cherkasy.
In her address to the visitors of the expositions, the NTL director Oksana Brui emphasized that great art comes to the library on the Day of Vyshyvanka. However, we should not forget that it is on May 18 that the progressive world also remembers the day when Stalin's satraps began deporting 200,000 Crimean Tatars (according to statistics, half of them died on the way to Central Asian regions). The minute of silence for the Crimean Tatars who died 79 years ago forced us to raise the topical issue of the Russian invaders' aggression in Ukraine. The photographs of the exhibition "Woman. War. Life" exhibition presented by the Kyiv organization of the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine.
"These days in May we also celebrate the anniversary of the Ukrainian defenders' departure from Azovstal. These are tragic pages of history. But we remember and honor the memory - after all, it is an indispensable and important component of the Vyshyvanka Day. We are waiting for our victory!" Oksana Bruy concluded.
These thoughts were echoed by Svitlana Zadorovska from Cherkasy, a photographer who is a member of the National Union of Photographers of Ukraine and co-organizer of the Ukrainian-American project " Parents' House". She presented a series of photos from three educational and artistic events. "Now, in the face of Russian aggression, we see that our culture and our history are weapons. Therefore, the revival, rethinking, and popularization of Ukrainian cultural traditions is extremely important," emphasized Svitlana Zadorovska. Photographer Olena Bravo (a representative of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States who communicated with the audience online), her colleagues, and private collectors of authentic clothing are helping to spread this project around the world. Its goal is to demonstrate folk costumes of different ethnographic regions of Ukraine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, along with the architectural forms and life of the respective territory. According to Olena Bravo, the exhibitions are based on photographs from the areas of Ukraine most affected by the military aggression of the Russian Federation: Borodyanka (Kyiv region), Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Zhytomyr regions. "Of course, further versions of this exhibition will also include Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea, which were liberated from russian aggression," the organizers of the exhibition at the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Company emphasized.
Looking at the dozens of photos representing the " Parents' House" project, one can once again be convinced that the words that the beauty of Ukrainian cultural heritage and traditions, the bright color of the Ukrainian village, the peculiarities of its life, customs, clothing and jewelry, the peculiar architecture of housing and the originality of ancient crafts are immortal. Interesting and instructive art for the current difficult period of development of national culture came to the university library.