VISIBLE SYMBOLS CULTURAL EXPRESSION AMONG CANADA’S UKRAINIANS Edited by MANOLY R. LUPUL COVER ILLUSTRATION Peter Shostak. Was that your Baba’s coat? Oil. 1978. “Through a good quality silk-screen reproduction, Was that your Baba’s coat? has become a resurrected symbol. Ukrainian pioneers in Canada were known as men in sheepskin coats, the latter being undoubtedly among the most highly valued of the immigrant’s first possessions during the cruel, harsh Canadian winters. Later, the functional, bulky coats became objects of derision and their wearers targets of discrimination. To be less conspicuous, the once proud possessions were left on the farm. A very small number have survived and today can be seen mainly behind glass in museums. Was that your Baba’s coat? was painted to make the most important symbol of the Ukrainian pioneer again an important image.” (Peter Shostak) Visible Symbols: Cultural Expression Among Canada’s Ukrainians VISIBLE SYMBOLS: Cultural Expression Among Canada’s Ukrainians Edited by Manoly R. Lupul Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies University of Alberta Edmonton 1984 THE ALBERTA LIBRARY IN UKRAINIAN CANADIAN STUDIES A series of original works and reprints relating to Ukrainians in Canada issued under the editorial supervision of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton. Editorial Board: Bohdan Bociurkiw, Carleton University (Social Sciences) Manoly R. Lupul, University of Alberta (Ukrainians in Canada) Bohdan Rubchak, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (Humanities) Ivan L. Rudnytsky, University of Alberta (History) Copyright © 1984 Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Visible symbols (The Alberta library in Ukrainian Canadian studies) Selected papers from a conference held at the University of Manitoba, Nov. 6-7, 1981. ISBN 0-920862-27-6 1. Ukrainian Canadians — Congresses.* I. Lupul, Manoly R., 1927- II. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. III. Series . FC106.U5V58 1984 971’. 00491791 C83-091487-0 F1035.U5V58 1984 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Cover design: Sherryl Petterson Printed in Canada by Printing Services, University of Alberta Distributed by the University of Toronto Press 5201 Dufferin St. Downsview, Ontario Canada M3H 5T8 / CONTENTS Preface/ xi Contributors/ xiii Introduction/ xv Jaroslav Rozumnyj PART I UKRAINIAN MATERIAL CULTURE IN CANADA 1 . Endurance, Disappearance and Adaptation: Ukrainian Material Culture in Canada/ 3 Radoslav Zuk 2 . Museums and Ukrainian Canadian Material Culture/ 15 Steve Prystupa 3 . Collecting Material Culture: Alberta’s Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village/ 18 Radomir B. Bilash 4 . Discussion/ 21 PART II UKRAINIAN ART IN CANADA 1 . Ethnicity in the Works of Ukrainian Canadian Artists/ 25 Lydia Palij 2 . The Relevance of Ethnicity to the Artist’s Work: Personal Perspectives Peter Shostak/ 31 Robert Achtemichuk 33 Natalka Husar/ 36 Irka Onufrijchuk/ 38 3 . Artists and Art Critics on the Relevance of Ethnicity to Art/ 40 Jaroslav Rozumnyj 4 . Discussion/ 43 PART III UKRAINIAN MUSIC IN CANADA 1 . Folk/ 49 Robert B. Klymasz 2 . Popular/ 57 Bohdan Zajcew viii 3. Classical/ 62 Zenon Lawryshyn 4. Liturgical: Living with Religious Symbols/ 67 Ivan Kowaliw 5. Choral / 75 Walter Klymkiw 6 . Discussion/ 79 PART IV UKRAINIAN DANCE IN CANADA 1 . The Evolution of Ukrainian Dance in Canada/ 87 Alexandra Pritz 2 . Dance Interpretation and Performance/ 102 Irka Balan 3. Some Personal Impressions/ 105 Lusia Pavlychenko 4. The Contemporary Dance Scene/ 108 Demjan Hohol 5. Discussion/ 111 PART V IN SEARCH OF UKRAINIAN CANADIAN SYMBOLS 1 . Symbols and Ukrainian Canadian Identity: Their Meaning and Significance/ 119 Wsevolod W. Isajiw 2 . Ukrainian Cultural and Political Symbols in Canada: An Anthropological Selection/ 129 Zenon Pohorecky 3. Ukrainian Canadian Cultural-Experience-As-Text: Toward a New Strategy/ 142 Roman Onufrijchuk 4. The Search for Symbols: Some Observations/ 162 Jars Balan 5. Discussion/ 167 PART VI THE POLITICS OF UKRAINIAN CULTURE IN CANADA 1 . Cultural Exchanges with Soviet Ukraine/ 183 Bohdan Krawchenko 2 . Cultural Vision and the Fulfillment of Visible Symbols/ 186 VasyV Baian 3. A Viewpoint from the Community/ 191 Isydore Hlynka 4. Political Dimensions of Ukrainian Canadian Culture/ 195 W. Roman Petryshyn 5. Discussion/ 199 Glossary/ 203 PREFACE This volume is based on the proceedings of the fifth annual conference on Ukrainians in Canada held at the University of Manitoba in November 1981. The conference was entitled “Visible Symbols: Cultural Expression Among Canada’s Ukrainians” and was organized jointly by Manitoba’s Department of Slavic Studies and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta. The conference provided an objective, scholarly forum for the examination of the ways in which Ukrainian Canadians express themselves culturally through architecture, museums, art, music and dance in order to understand better the different cultural currents within the group and the direction(s) cultural development might take in the future. Of special concern was the relationship of Ukrainian Canadian culture to mainstream Canadian culture. The conference sought to relate theory and practice by combining academic presentations and the views of leading practitioners in the fine arts. All participants were directed to address themselves to such questions as the following: What is the nature of contemporary Ukrainian Canadian culture in specialized areas? How do cultural forms express the Ukrainian Canadian identity? Are experimental cultural forms removing the Ukrainian essence from Ukrainian Canadian culture? How does cultural expression in the organized Ukrainian Canadian community differ from that in the general Ukrainian population in Canada? Why do certain aspects of Ukrainian culture survive, evolve and continue to have meaning for Canadian participants, while others do not? What effect have Soviet Ukrainian cultural styles and politics had on the development of Ukrainian Canadian culture? What has been the impact of official multicultural policies on Ukrainian Canadian cultural development? In the deliberations, one question became central: What are the visible symbols through which Ukrainians in Canada express their identity in the cultural milieu of contemporary North America? Of the many issues that face ethnocultural groups in a pluralistic society, none is more crucial, and it is hoped that the facts and views presented in this book on that important question may assist all ethnocultural minorities in Canada to un- derstand themselves better. xii Visible Symbols As director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and editor of this volume, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Professor Jaroslav Rozumnyj, head of the Department of Slavic Studies at the University of Manitoba, and of his staff in developing the programme and looking after the arrangements for the conference. The co-operation of all who participated in the conference, and especially those who contributed illustrations to this volume, is also gratefully acknowledged. Equally signif- icant was the financial assistance of the Multiculturalism Directorate of the Secretary of State and of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. MRL CONTRIBUTORS Robert Achtemichuk Artist, Toronto Irka Balan Dance Instructor, Choreographer and Performer, Winnipeg Vasyl’ Balan Social Development Officer, Department of the Secretary of State, Winnipeg Yars Balan Writer and Literary Critic, Edmonton Radomir B. Bilash Senior Research Historian, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Alberta Culture Isydore Hlynka Cereal Chemist and Ukrainian Canadian Community Leader, Winnipeg Demjan Hohol Dance Instructor and Performer, Edmonton Natalka Husar Artist, Toronto Wsevolod W. Isajiw Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Robert B. Klymasz Visiting Professor, Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, St. Andrew’s College, University of Manitoba Walter Klymkiw Choir Director, Winnipeg Ivan Kowaliw Conductor and Music Instructor, Ukrainian Music Institute of Toronto Bohdan Krawchenko Research Associate and Assistant Director, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta Zenon Lawryshyn Composer, Toronto Irka Onufrijchuk Interior Designer, Vancouver Roman Onufrijchuk Graduate Student, Simon Fraser University Lydia Palij Artist, Graphic Designer and Art Critic, Toronto Lusia Pavlychenko Director, Saskatoon School of Ballet, Saskatchewan XIV Visible Symbols W. Roman Petryshyn Assistant Director, Cultural Heritage Branch, Alberta Culture Zenon Pohorecky Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan Alexandra Pritz Dance Instructor, Choreographer and Performer, New Westminster, B.C. Steve Prystupa Chairman, Human History Division, Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, Winnipeg Jaroslav Rozumnyj Professor and Head, Department of Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba Peter Shostak Artist, Victoria, B.C. Bohdan Zajcew Musician, Composer and Radio Programmer, Edmonton Radoslav Zuk Professor, School of Architecture, McGill University INTRODUCTION Jaroslav Rozumnyj In 1971, at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, the Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ Union (SUSK)