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All photos by Farid Zarrinabadi
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February 2024 was filled with numerous events aimed, once again, at raising the issue of Ukraine, while commemorating two years of brutal, full-scale invasion. The “Ukrainian Heritage for Cultural Diplomacy” event was organized by the less-than-a-year-old Ukrainian Club and held on campus at Texas A&M University. Good Bull Foundation grant and trust made this event possible and provided an opportunity to present the "Ukrainian Homestead" project to the student body and Bryan/College Station community.
The Ukrainian Club was founded by a group of energetic Ukrainian students with the support of faculty and staff of Ukrainian descent. The club's advisors are Elena Kolomiets and Andrii Syvyk. In May 2024, the Ukrainian Club at Texas A&M will celebrate its first anniversary. The Ukrainian Club events are aimed at promoting Ukrainian culture and sharing traditions while building a community of supporters in B/CS.
The “Ukrainian Heritage for Cultural Diplomacy” event featured about 30 photo stories from the "Ukrainian Homestead" project and showcased 15 costumes from Natalia Sturgill's collection, one of the largest private collections of vintage clothing brought to us from Atlanta, GA. Olenka Bravo, who has years of experience in this direction, worked on the staging of the authentic clothing show.
Farid Zarrinabadi
Ukrainian composer Alexander Sedyn performed at the event
This event was unique by nature – modeling antique outfits and engaging the Ukrainian community from Austin, San Antonio and students from College Station. The well-coordinated collaboration yielded a huge success, including a live piano performance by the talented young composer Alexander Sedyn. As a recent refugee, Alex expresses his thoughts, feelings and dreams about a free Ukraine in his music.
The event also had several paintings displayed by Ukrainian artist Alyona Modlevski using mixed media techniques of photography and acrylic paint on canvas. Another partner project presented during the event was "Angel Guardians" by Kyiv artist Svitlana Sevostiyanchyk presented by Liberty Ukraine Foundation.
"Ukrainian Homestead" is a Ukrainian-American educational project that has been working for almost 4 years to promote Ukrainian culture worldwide. The project is a series of photographs that represent every main region of Ukraine and feature modern-day Ukrainians in authentic traditional clothes photographed in old Ukrainian buildings and homes of the corresponding region. The project also demonstrates traditional crafts, jewelry, accessories, hairdos, and the overall way of life in Ukraine at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Each of the photo stories displayed during the “Ukrainian Heritage for Cultural Diplomacy” event had its own story and complete description of the outfit details and the region.
Homestead was created for Ukrainians who can no longer visit their parents' home for various reasons. For example, Ukrainians who live abroad and do not have the opportunity to come home very often; those whose house was destroyed by time or simply sold; for the people of the temporarily occupied regions who were forced to leave their homes without any hope of ever returning. Currently, the project comprises more than 40 photo episodes and 200+ photos. This is an invaluable amount of information that will become more precious over the years. There are still individual witnesses who recall the traditions of wearing this attire. Although a lot of information is acquired from studying old black and white photos, in 50, 100 years, history will be told through photos from this very project! Therefore, this project becomes more valuable with each passing minute.
The Homestead exhibit is of utmost importance to the war in Ukraine. It reflects the culture, including households, clothing, art, and the overall way of living of the Ukrainian people currently being obliterated by the Russian government. This regime wants to eradicate all evidence of existence. A war waged by the most cynical and insidious enemy on all fronts: military, informational and cultural. While men are on the front line fighting, losing arms, legs, and even lives, women are left to defend the second front: informational and cultural.
While shooting the project in a relatively peaceful time in Ukraine, none of the team realized that such terrible hostilities would begin in Kyiv and throughout the country. In a moment, every citizen in the country came under attack and the threat of losing their homes, their families, and their lives, was apparent. Therefore, now more than ever, the project holds significant importance as Russia attempts to destroy the identity of Ukraine: the beliefs, culture, and language. That’s why the project is a powerful tool against Russian disinformation.
The project team - Olenka Bravo, Svitlana Zalorovska, Natalia Sturgill, and partner Kateryna Voinova - continuously work to improve the project and create new interesting forms in presenting Ukrainian culture and history. The antique Ukrainian attire from Natalia's private collection has been featured in diaspora ethno calendars for 4 years now. Meanwhile, Olenka has contributed her talents to 2 of these calendars, acting as a photographer in one and showcasing a costume from her own modest collection in another. These 4 projects have involved a tremendous team effort, with photographers, organizers, and a heartfelt thanks extended to all the models and volunteers. Currently, plans are in motion for the 5th calendar in Austin, where Natalia will once again present her collection, one of the largest in the United States. Collaborating on this endeavor are Nadya Zhurba, Kateryna Voinova and Olenka Bravo.
The “Ukrainian Heritage for Cultural Diplomacy” event was attended by the Consul General of Houston Vitaliy Tarasyuk who gave a moving speech and complemented students and faculty from Ukrainian Club at Texas A&M for their initiative and hard work. Cultural diplomacy is a powerful tool, which has once again demonstrated its strength in such important times.
Story written and provided by Olenka Bravo and Elena Kolomiets
