BMUFA Artifacts Collection
Description
The Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives (BMUFA) hosts a diverse collection of artifacts showcasing the multifaceted cultural heritage of Ukraine and its diaspora in Canada. This repository houses more than 400 objects categorized into two primary groups.
The first category comprises an assortment of souvenirs sourced from Ukraine, ranging from tobacco pipes and Hutsul hatchets to intricately designed jewelry boxes and fridge magnets.
The second group encompasses handcrafted pieces by Ukrainian Canadians, featuring motifs such as Easter eggs (pysanky) and ceramic artworks. Notably, the collection includes badges and pins associated primarily with local Canadian dance ensembles.
This collection highlights a series of ceramics exhibiting patterns reminiscent of cross-stitching, prevalent in North America during the 1960s. These ornate works, adorned with pasted embroidery, vary from children's toys to functional household items like dishes and sizable vases. Possessing such pieces symbolized a sense of national belonging, fostering a connection with Ukrainian culture across generations of Ukrainian Canadians.
Easter, a significant celebration for Ukrainians and Ukrainian Canadians, is marked by the tradition of painting pysanky. The BMUFA holds a diverse collection of these intricately adorned eggs, ranging from traditional symbolic designs on chicken eggs to more unconventional examples, such as carvings on ostrich eggs. One extraordinary instance includes five goose eggs utilized by Lorenz Kenakin to depict portraits of Cossack hetmans, heroic figures from 16th to 18th-century Ukrainian history.
BMUFA Artifact Collection remains ongoing, periodically enriched with new descriptions and additions.
The first category comprises an assortment of souvenirs sourced from Ukraine, ranging from tobacco pipes and Hutsul hatchets to intricately designed jewelry boxes and fridge magnets.
The second group encompasses handcrafted pieces by Ukrainian Canadians, featuring motifs such as Easter eggs (pysanky) and ceramic artworks. Notably, the collection includes badges and pins associated primarily with local Canadian dance ensembles.
This collection highlights a series of ceramics exhibiting patterns reminiscent of cross-stitching, prevalent in North America during the 1960s. These ornate works, adorned with pasted embroidery, vary from children's toys to functional household items like dishes and sizable vases. Possessing such pieces symbolized a sense of national belonging, fostering a connection with Ukrainian culture across generations of Ukrainian Canadians.
Easter, a significant celebration for Ukrainians and Ukrainian Canadians, is marked by the tradition of painting pysanky. The BMUFA holds a diverse collection of these intricately adorned eggs, ranging from traditional symbolic designs on chicken eggs to more unconventional examples, such as carvings on ostrich eggs. One extraordinary instance includes five goose eggs utilized by Lorenz Kenakin to depict portraits of Cossack hetmans, heroic figures from 16th to 18th-century Ukrainian history.
BMUFA Artifact Collection remains ongoing, periodically enriched with new descriptions and additions.
Collection Tree
- BMUFA Artifacts Collection
Souvenir fridge magnet
Handmade painted souvenir fridge magnet. Decorated with a picture of Cossack with an embroidered shirt, green sharavary, red boots and a "woolly" hat. 3 cm magnetic strip has been glued to the back of the figure. Completes a set with UF1992.019.a003
Souvenir fridge magnet
Handmade painted souvenir fridge magnet. Decorated with a picture of a female Ukrainian dancer with an embroidered blouse, green skirt, red boots, brown hair and a red headband. 3 cm magnetic strip has been glued to the back of the figure. Completes…
Souvenir pen sheath
Wooden handmade painted souvenir pen sheath carved and decorated to look like a cat. Designed to hold a ballpoint pen refill. The shaft has been decorated with a graphic line drawing of a rabbit in the forest. Text written around the top reads…