“There, in Ukraine, where the Ros River flows through the valleys, among the mountains, in between the oak and linden forests, there is a great town of Bohuslav…” – with this extract from the story “Fisherman Panas Krut” by Ukrainian writer Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi, we opened the presentation of the exhibition “Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi: Bohuslav and Bohuslavshchyna in His Life and Work” at the Bohuslav Humanitarian and Professional College named after I.S. Nechuy-Levytskyi on the occasion of the 185th anniversary since he was born.
“Nechuy-Levytskyi studied at the Bohuslav Theological School and lectured there. His premises were located on the territory of St Nicholas Monastery. The landscapes of Bohuslav inspired the writer’s creativity. He mentioned Bohuslavshchyna (in particular, the villages of Momoty, Biyivtsi, Chaiky, Khokhitva, Bohuslav, Semyhory) in his works “Two Moscovites”, “Kaidash Family”, “Old World Fathers and Mothers”, “The Wagon”, “The Wrong Man”, “Baba Paraska and Baba Palazhka”, “Pals”, “Innocent”, “Old Rascals”, “The Village Yeoman Feasts”. His texts are a real encyclopaedia of Ukrainian traditions and folklore. With this exhibition, we also intended to show what the people of Bohuslav looked like in Nechuy-Levytskyi’s time, and what the world he described looked like. That is why we have displayed photos of our city and local families. You can see their beautiful clothes and how well they knew how to accessorise themselves,” says Olena Puzatko, coordinator of charity events at the Bohuslav Volunteer Headquarters and the “Around Us. UA” NGO.
The banner stands were prepared by folklorist Olena Chebaniuk, the author of the text, and designer Vitaliy Nishchymenko. Besides, the “Around Us. UA” NGO introduced traditional Ukrainian girls’ clothing and a collection of paraffin wreaths recreated from old clothes and jewellery samples.
“Based on old photographs and exhibits, local craftsmen recreated old clothes and jewellery, paraffin wreaths and beads. We also recreated a cap (“ochipok”), the original version of which is kept in the Museum of the History of Bohuslav Region. We intend to make a photo project with these outfits so that people can come to us for a visit and have a photo session in such clothes,” says Victoriia Oliynyk, a representative of the Bohuslav volunteer headquarters and the “Around Us. UA” NGO.
By the way, the guests of the event took part in a quest based on the exhibition theme. It was organised by Tamara Yakovenko, a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature at the college. She shared with us the idea behind it: “The exhibition expands the scope of our knowledge about the life and work of Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi, in particular, about the Bohuslav period. The old costumes and photographs of people who lived in his days also give us an understanding of those times. To make this interesting information memorable, we prepared questions about the life and work of Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi. Those students who answered them most accurately during the presentation and sent the most detailed answers to a specially created chat will have a gift of a free photo session in folk costumes recreated by the “Around Us. UA” NGO.
And more on the gifts! The organisers of the exhibition provided the college library with valuable book gifts, including their works: brochures “Bohuslavska Koliada” (Bohuslav Carols) and “Brazhnyky – Masters of Ukrainian Clothing”. During the event, the college students performed creative performances to mark the anniversary of the Ukrainian writer: Maria Ivchenko and Daria Pylypchenko recreated the dialogue between Grandma Paraska and Grandma Palazhka from Nechuy-Levytsky’s eponymous work, the “Bohuslavka” student bandura band and the “Kolyada” folklore ensemble performed Ukrainian folk songs.
