Monuments to Faith: Ukrainian Churches in Manitoba

By Basil Rostoff, Roman Yereniuk, and Stella Hryniuk (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1990). ix, 197 p., illus., bib/io. ISBN 0-88755-621-3 (pbk). $19.95.

St. Michael and the Angels Ukrainian Catholic Church, Tyndall, Manitoba, built in 1962, Radoslav Zuk, architect (Manitoba East European Heritage Society)

ust over one hundred years ago the first Ukrain­ The book begins with a brief but useful his­ J: an pioneers came to this country. To this un­ tory of the Ukrainian people and how they came to familiar part of the earth they brought a world they the Canadian west, paying particular attention to the knew and loved, a complex and rich world of values role of their church and to the adaptations- espe­ and traditions dating back a millennium and more. cially architectural-which were necessary to make In the new and often hostile environment their the transition to Manitoba. In the chapters which fol­ world provided them a much-needed source of low, the roots of Ukrainian church architecture are meaning and "rootedness." Soon after the bush was traced to Judaic, Syrian, and Roman sources by way cleared and crops established, the new land was fur­ of Byzantium, as well as to more autochthonic Uk­ ther reshaped, into their world. Most visibly for the rainian sources. Even in its earliest manifestations Ukraininans this meant churches. Monuments to more than one thousand years ago, Ukrainian Faith: Ukrainian Churches in Manitoba, by Basil church architecture involved adaptation of key Uk­ Rostoff, Roman Yereniuk, and Stella Hryniuk, rainian folk and Byzantine building traditions. The documents and explores these churches in the evolution of plan types, building forms, and styles province where the Ukrainians first settled. are discussed with reference to the major deter­ To most observers, the forty-nine chur­ minants which shaped them. The information is con­ ches in this book may at first appear to be quirky, densed but remains insightful. We learn, for often modest little structures. We are asked, how­ example, that, while urban churches built of mason­ ever, to understand them in a larger context and ry held onto Byzantine models, rural churches thereby see more than a few exotic domes. To the developed what appear to be more flamboyant credit of the producers of this book, this objective is forms and ornamentation in wood. We also learn Book Review by achieved clearly and simply. that Ukrainian Baroque came to dominate the east Walter Daschko

17:3 SSAC BUUETlN SEAC 81 after the 17th century, while architectural influences book, while generally quite accessible, nonetheless such as Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance misses an important opportunity to expand the idea prevailed in the west. We are also offered an inter­ of adaptation in Ukrainian architecture already iden­ esting interpretation of the development of the pear­ tified by others (referred to variously as a process of shaped domes characteristic of the churches. "synthesis" or "hybridization") in earlier explora­ At the heart of the book are three chap­ tions of the subject. Similarly, and perhaps more sig­ ters which elaborate the architectural adaptations nificantly, Monuments to Faith misses the chance to found in the Manitoba churches. Aided by link the architectural processes in Manitoba with photographs and sketches, the authors illustrate others around the world which are likewise beyond how most of the Manitoba churches are, in varying the mainstream (such as the architectural expres­ degrees, adaptations of the regional church types sions of "critical regionalism" identified by critic Ken­ (Hutsu~ Boyko, Lemko, and Temopil types, for ex­ neth Frampton). ample) found in Ukraine. Indeed, the authors tell us Most scholars will be frustrated by the that "most of the traditional church types that scanty notes and the incomplete bibliography. Miss­ evolved in Ukraine from the eleventh through the ing from the latter, for example, are significant and nineteenth centuries are represented in Manitoba." useful references such as the essays of Prof. Zuk They quickly add, however, that "few of the chur­ ("Endurance, Disappearance and Adaptation: Uk­ ches were built in a purely traditional style." rainian Material Culture in Canada," in VISible Sym­ Among the many churches presented and bols: Cultural Expression Among Canada's discussed, a few, such as the "prairie cathedrals" of Ukrainians, ed. Manoly Lupul (Edmonton: Father Philip Ruh (a notable individual with an in­ Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1984); "Ar­ teresting and prolific career in Canada), stand out chitectural Significance and Culture," Canadian Eth­ because of sheer scale. Others, such as the Holy nic Studies 16, no. 3 (1984); and "Sacred Space in Ghost Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Petlura, are Ukrainian Canadian Experience: Tradition and Con­ memorable for their delightful eccentricity. Many of temporary Issues," in The Ukrainian Religious Ex­ the adaptations found in Manitoba's churches were perience: Tradition and the Canadian Cultural the result not only of new building materials and Context, ed. David J. Goa (Edmonton: Canadian In­ techniques, but of the "new" styles such as Gothic stitute of Ukrainian Studies, 1989), to name the and the Romanesque Revival. Interesting, too, is most important); the many church- and architecture­ the influence of Russian architecture- not by way related essays in the Canadian Museum of of the Eurasian steppes, but, curiously, by way of Civilization's Material History Bulletin 29 (spring Minnesota and the very active proselytism of its Rus­ 1989); and Polyphony 10 (1988), published by the sian Orthodox Mission. Multicultural History Society of Ontario, which ex­ The contemporary churches presented are plores many of the same issues raised in Monuments for the most part a mixed bag of buildings struggling to Faith. - and not always succeeding - to be both modern In spite of these shortcomings, Monuments and traditional. The churches of Montreal architect to Faith: Ukrainian Churches in Manitoba remains and McGill University professor Radoslav Zuk are an intelligent and useful document, well written and the most successful, and the most interesting. attractively laid out. All involved are to be congratu­ The book is not restricted to architectural lated, especially the Manitoba East European issues. Provided is useful information on those who Heritage Society, who initiated and prepared the commissioned and built the buildings, and the book, and the Historic Resources Branch of iconographers and wood carvers who elaborated the Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Recreation, who interiors. Also included is a short guide to the art funded the book with the cooperation of the Uk­ and architecture of Ukrainian churches in general. rainian Cultural and Educational Centre. This is, I The authors see all these churches in their believe, the best book about Ukrainian Canadian ar­ larger role: how they "define the cultural and chitecture published to date. religious character of the communities in which they stand." The "communities" are not limited to Gar­ denton, or Winnipeg; they include Manitoba, and Canada. The "cultures" the authors define are diasporic as well as regional; and the cultures to which they stand in opposition - mass culture, globalization - are becoming increasingly important issues to all of us. It is in these contexts that Monu­ Wallar Daschko, a member of the executive of the Canadian ments to Faith proves particularly engaging. Society for Ukrainian Atchitecture and a former Associate However, the authors appear to have tar­ Professor at the University of Toronto School of Atchitecture and Landscape Architecture, has lectlJred and written on the subject geted the lay reader as their prime audience, and of Ukrainian church architecture. He is currently a practising never squarely address the central process of adapta­ architect with Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Atchitects tion as a complex architectural issue. As a result, the in Toronto.

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