Connecticut has one of the oldest Ukrainian museums: what does it have in its collection?

The Ukrainian Museum and Library in Stamford (Connecticut) is one of the oldest Ukrainian cultural institutions in North America. He spoke about the unique collection of the museum Voice of America.

The first collection was brought from Lviv before the start of World War II. These were unique examples of folk art, which became the basis.

Over time, due to reduced funding, it became more difficult to buy exhibits. And then private collectors came to the aid of the museum.

“There were cases when children did not know what to do with the legacy, and threw everything in the trash. So a lot of valuable printed material was simply lost, - says the curator of the museum Lyubov Volynets. “But when the information was spread that we collect and store everything, they began to bring us different things.”

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Marta Bazarko donated to the museum a collection of traditional Ukrainian clothes of her late mother and unique early printed books. She was brought to the US by her parents as a baby, and she is very proud of her roots.

“My mother had an active civic position, she worked as a teacher and was very fond of embroidery, Ukrainian art,” says Marta. - Mom kept everything, and I kept it. I just wanted to donate valuable things for the family so that they can be preserved.

This is the second visit of Bazarko as a patron of the arts. She says that children and grandchildren are not very interested in the family collection. Therefore, so that these unique artifacts do not disappear, she gradually transports them to the museum.

The curator of the museum is very pleased with the replenishment of the fund from Martha. Among the items there are unique embroidered shirts that Ukrainian women sewed from American parachutes in camps for displaced persons.

“Monthly, the US military supplied food and miscellaneous items, as well as parachute sheets and bandages. Ukrainian women sewed bandages to parachutes and made embroidered shirts,” says Volynets.

Among other interesting exhibits are several shirts with Borshchiv embroidery, Bukovinian plakhty (an item of women's clothing in the form of a skirt), sleeveless jackets from Pokuttya, and a collection of tablecloths.

The funds of the museum were replenished with old editions.

“Many of the books are from the late 250th or early XNUMXth centuries. They are rare. There are about XNUMX of them, ”explains Marta.

According to the curator, the library collection contains unique books that belonged to famous Ukrainians.

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“Some of them were presented to us by Father Lubomyr Guzar,” says Lyubov.

Many unique exhibits donated to the museum by patrons of art are associated with the national liberation struggle, for example, the original of the Third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada.

Bazarko assures that this is not her last visit to the museum. Next time she plans to bring some more unique old books, as well as paintings by Ukrainian artists.