Exhibits

Now on view:

Rushnyky: Ritual Cloths of the Cossack Lands of Ukraine

Rushnyky (singular: rushnyk) are traditional sacred Ukrainian ritual cloths that have been used for centuries to mark significant events, particularly in the wedding ceremony. This exhibition features handcrafted rushnyky from central Ukraine made from the end of the 19th to the middle of the 20th centuries - the peak period of their popularity. During this time, rushnyk making and use expanded far beyond its original purpose as a sacred textile, and began to be used as decorative folk art.

It is a result of a joint effort by the UHEC and private collectors Yuri Mischenko and Natalie Pawlenko, who loaned rushnyky from their rextensive collection and which are being exhibited for the first time in the United States.

This exhibition is dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Maidan Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, to the memory of those who lost their lives in that protest, and to those who have perished in the current war against Russian aggression in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Many of the young men and women who sacrificed their lives for a free Ukraine never had the opportunity to make use of a wedding rushnyk, but instead were buried with one.

The exhibition opening and gallery talk will be on Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 1 PM at the Ukrainian History and Education Center’s Library Gallery located at 135 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, NJ, 08873.  The exhibition will remain open through August 31, 2019 during the hours of 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday (closed noon-1 PM for lunch) and noon to 4 PM on the first Saturday of every month. Groups are welcome by appointment.

Please note the following special hours during the Holy Week and Paschal season:

  • The exhibition will be closed on 4/25 after 1 PM for Holy Thursday and all day on 4/26 for Holy and Great Friday.
  • The exhibition will be open noon to 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday of St. Thomas Sunday Pilgrimage weekend (May 4th and 5th)
 

While the Center's new museum building is under construction, we are presenting exhibits in the Library Gallery.

This gallery occupies the location formerly used by the UOC of USA bookstore, and has been completely refurbished for use as a gallery, including the installation of museum-grade UV absorbing film on the windows to protect the displayed artifacts from sunlight damage.

View map and get directions.

Online exhibits

 

Ukraine 1933: A Cookbook

A sampling of a series of 80 linocuts by Ukrainian artist Mykola Bondarenko (b. 1949) depicting the unbelievable “menu” that survivors of the Holodomor subsisted on.

 
 

Two post-war immigrant experiences

All of the post-World War II refugees who fled Ukraine in the mid 1940s ahead of the advancing Red Army had their tales of hardship and triumph. In this exhibit, we tell the stories of two similar, but at the same time very different refugee experiences.

 
 

The story behind "The Carol of the Bells"

How did a Ukrainian winter song arranged for chorus by Mykola Leontovych end up as the perennial American Christmas favorite "The Carol of the Bells"? The story involves an unlikely musical ensemble called the "Ukrainian National Chorus". Here we tell the story of the Chorus through archival materials from the collection of Fr. Mykola Kostets'kyi, who was a member of the Chorus in the 1920s.