Embroidery Tells a Story

SEP 03, 2024 to SEP 14, 2024

Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts and Shumka presents

Embroidery Tells a Story

An ACUA Signature Artist Series Event

September 3-14, 2024

Olha Drahomanova Kosach, (1849 – 1930), was known by her pseudonym, Olena Pchilka. Writer, ethnographer, translator, women’s activist and community leader, she was a highly principled woman who instilled the authentic ancient Ukrainian folk art tradition and language in her children, two sons and four daughters, including Lesya Ukrainka, one of the leaders of Ukrainian artistic creation.

In 1876, Olena, concerned about the Russian Empire’s ban on Ukrainian language and traditions, self-published Ukrainian Ornamental Designs. Her publication won the Prix Award at the World Exposition in Paris in 1878 and was reprinted five times in her lifetime.

Olena merited the gratitude of Ukrainian women because it was through her persuasive inducement that the folk art which was already declining and on the verge of vanishing had soon developed into a carefully cultivated field and has embellished the expression of Ukrainian life.

Ukrainian Museum of Canada and The Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, Manitoba Branch, has created this exhibit, consisting of eight colourful panels, which tell the story of ancient traditional Ukrainian embroidery and Olena Pchilka’s attempt to preserve the authentic ancient Ukrainian folk-art traditions before they were lost in contemporary adaptations.

Olena’s daughter, Lesya Ukrainka, is a renowned Ukrainian artist, musician, story- teller, poet, and writer. February 25, 2021 marked the 150th anniversary of her birth. She had a troubled life – suffering with physical ailments – and lived vicariously through her art. She is a legend among the Ukrainian diaspora, and as a woman, is especially inspiring in a patriarchal culture. On October 4 and 5 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, experience the premiere of Shumka’s UKRAINKA: The Four Faces of Lesya Ukrainka, told through visual art, music and dance.