“Noah’s Ark” for Ukrainians
Odesa hosts the multimedia exhibit “Ivan Honchar’s Virtuous Life”
ODESA — The exhibit was already displayed in Vinnytsia and Moryntsi before arriving to Odesa. It is dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of the prominent educator, art collector and artist Ivan Honchar (1911-93), and it is based on stands with photographs of exhibits that are kept at the National Center of Folk Culture Ivan Honchar Museum. Characteristically, the exhibit is located in a room of the Odesa Local History Museum which adjoins the permanent exhibition of the Ukraine Steppe Museum, the brainchild of local historians and ethnographers. This somewhat unique collection was established back in the 1920s and 1930s as an expression of populist ideas and the development of national consciousness in the southern regions of Ukraine, as well as due to the desire to consider folk art as the basis for the cultural development of Ukraine in modern times. Thanks to the efforts of devoted local volunteers and the staff of the Odesa Local History Museum, the collection has been partially reconstructed.
“Ivan Honchar, as a collector of authentic folk art, was no exception, such passion is inherent in many people,” the deputy director of the Odesa Local History Museum Yuri Sliusar stresses. “But Honchar was very peculiar as to the extent of his consistent, selfless work. Honchar’s creativity became his guardian spirit, while he himself had become a guardian spirit of sorts for Ukrainian cultural treasures, and he was such a defender even when the tiniest attempts to create a genuinely national culture were repressed.”
This new exhibit should be seen as a link in the chain of our self-identity. A lot of people remember Honchar’s cozy two-story house-studio, filled with exhibits from all over Ukraine. It had its own aura and inimitable flavor. Then it became a focal point for the sixtiers’ movement, “a breath of air” for the thirsty national soul. For 17 years, the Ivan Honchar Museum, which became the National Center of Folk Culture in 1999, is housed in the two-story “Governorate’s Office” near the Kyiv Cave Monastery.
Before opening the exhibit in Odesa, Honchar’s son, a famous painter and current director of the Center Petro Honchar said: “Today, our museum is housed in a spacious building with total area of 2,500 square meters. Unfortunately, at present, only the first floor of this building has been repaired, so only half the exhibits are, in fact, available for visitors to see. Storage rooms are hardly equipped to house the rest of the collection, too. But it does not stop us — many museums in Ukraine have this problem... The Ivan Honchar Museum presents a kind of history, concentrated through one person’s creative work. Its exhibits constitute the backbone of our permanent exhibition. Central Ukraine is very well represented in our collection, while the west and south of the country are much less so. But we work to close the gap...”
The center engages in new activities. It has launched clubs, organized folk festivals, and its staff has tried to revive folk traditions and rituals, and develop the traditional folk crafts. This exhibit in Odesa was further evidence of the exchange between Ukrainian museums and our spiritual and cultural unity, regardless of geographic distance.
It is expected that this multimedia exhibit will be shown in Poltava, Chernihiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and other cities. Its organizers are preparing themselves to produce a film and gather the visitors’ feedback about this project. The tour will end with a final exhibition and national forum Honchar Jubilee Congress, both to be held in Kyiv this autumn.
