Oseredok UCEC will be hosting an immersive exhibition that will feature animated artworks by Taras Shevchenko, Maria Prymachenko and a showcase of the history/story of Oseredok with pieces from our museum, archive and fine art collections.  Immersive exhibitions are a new exhibition format that combine the capabilities of modern multimedia technologies with traditional ones and provide an opportunity to present information to the visitor using sound, light and images that are panoramic around the viewer and cause the so-called “presence effect”; we will also be creating a translation of this experience by filming and re-formatting the animated portions of this immersive exhibition so that it can be viewed digitally on a screen anywhere. The music that will be used in the in-person exhibition will also play throughout the online version, with narrated voiceovers describing the art being viewed, as well as interviews with experts in the relevant fields giving background information on the history of the pieces, places and people being shown. This exhibition will consist of 3 parts: the introduction about Oseredok and its collections, the “Immersive World of Taras Shevchenko” and the Prymachenko exhibit as the finale. The goal will be to have about 30 minutes of content dedicated in full to Ukrainian art. This will be the largest Ukrainian immersive exhibit in Canada at the largest Ukrainian cultural centre in Canada.  The exhibition will be broken up as follows:

The Immersive World of Oseredok (runtime approximately 10 minutes)

The content in this section will begin with the history of the Oseredok building, which will include historical photographs from our archive and museum collections. In this section 3-D effects and animation will be utilized to bring photographs to life. After this we will transition into images from the collections revolving around the evolution and history of the different collections housed at Oseredok (fine art, museum, library and archival). The musical accompaniment will be based on Ukrainian music that has come from the Canadian prairies, possibly with the inclusion of one of the local Ukrainian choirs in Winnipeg, or perhaps set to the music of Oleksander Koshetz, as Oseredok houses his archival collection; Koshetz was also instrumental in the founding of Oseredok UCEC.  This portion of the exhibition will be an innovative and thorough display of the history and collections of Oseredok that will appeal to a wide variety of visitors to the Centre.

The Immersive World of Taras Shevchenko (Run time – 15 minutes)

The art pieces included in this section are not from our own collection, but we have made the necessary arrangements with the proper institution (the National Taras Shevchenko Museum in Ukraine) to use these images for both the in-person and online exhibition. The Ukrainian composer, Tymur Polyansky, composed a score inspired by the music of Shevchenko’s time and this will play over animated versions of Shevchenko’s paintings with voiceover narration reading different excerpts from Shevchenko’s writings. Approximately 200 pieces of art were used while creating this exhibition out of a total of 800 that were made available; the original voiceovers were done in Ukrainian, which we will also use, but we will be creating new voiceover options in English and possibly French based off of translations that we have in our own Rare Book Collection on The Kobzar of Ukraine.

The Immersive World of Maria Prymachenko  (Run time – 5 minutes)

This will be the world premiere of a lot of the content that will be viewed in this section–again, all of the proper permissions have been secured with the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, which houses a very large collection of Prymachenko’s work. This will be a 5-minute section of the works of Maria Prymachenko that will be a very bright and lively, demonstrating the strongest works of the outsider artist. The goal is to create a fairy-tale like atmosphere to match the subject matter and form used in Prymachenko’s raw and fantastical paintings. The original musical composition in this section will be of a more jazz-like style and will also be composed by Tymur Polyansky.

Upon seeing the works of Maria Prymachenko at the 1937 Paris Worlds Fair, Pablo Picasso declared “I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.” Marc Chagall was another admirer, calling his own images of fantastical creatures “the cousins of the strange beasts of Maria Prymachenko.” One of the early casualties of the ongoing war in Ukraine was the Maria Prymachenko museum in Ivankiv, which went up in flames after being struck by artillery. Thankfully, many of her works are housed elsewhere, and it will still be possible to share her artistic voice with the world through this exhibition. This potential loss reminds us that now, more than ever, there is a need to safeguard the many treasures, cultural richness, and unique voices that make up the tapestry of Ukrainian art.

Oseredok will also create the online virtual tour of the exhibition that will be available on our website. Virtual tours are available to anyone anywhere with an internet connection and computer/smart device, increasing the accessibility of our exhibitions.

Here is a sneak-peek of the Taras Shevchenko portion of the exhibition, featuring Shevchenko’s works, original music, and a 360-degree immersive experience for the visitor. This video was filmed at the opening of the Taras Shevchenko portion of the exhibition in Odessa, Ukraine which ran from August 21-September 12, 2021.

A huge success in Ukraine, the exhibition was visited by Orange revolution leader and former Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko, and Ukraine’s current president, Volodymyr Zelenkskyy.

At the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Taras Shevchenko portion of the exhibition opened in Toronto for a one-day fundraising event in partnership with Lighthouse Immersive. All proceeds raised were donated to the Red Cross Emergency Relief Fund for Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine Fund. The exhibition sold out, and plans to open in Boston, Chicago, Denver, LA, and San Francisco in the months to come. Winnipeg will be the Canadian debut for this much anticipated show, and the global premiere of the Maria Prymachenko and Oseredok collection portions.

https://lighthouseimmersive.com/immersive-shevchenko/

We are reaching out to you, as a dedicated member of our community, for your help as we take on this ground-breaking project. Immersive exhibitions are incredibly costly to properly run and we require $170,000 to make this one a success. That being said, we feel confident that it will be a worthwhile investment for our community that will help us to unite and educate a broader demographic on all that Ukrainian art and culture has to offer.

We are looking for your support to sponsor The Immersive World of Ukrainian Art. Below is a general budget breakdown which highlights the technical investment that an exhibition like this requires.

Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko is arguably the most famous artist, poet, and advocate for a free and sovereign Ukraine, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the Taras Shevchenko National Museum to showcase his works. Learn more about him here.

Maria Prymachenko

Maria Prymachenko was an incredibly influential artist, whose voice was the inspiration for many of the leading 20^th century artists creating works in the cubist, expressionist, fauvist, surrealist, futurist, and avant-grade movements. Oseredok is pleased to feature the works of this leading voice in contemporary art. Learn more about her here.

Oseredok

Oseredok, a word meaning ‘centre’ or ‘hub’ in Ukrainian, is pleased to serve that role not only for the Ukrainian community, but also for the arts community, the heritage and cultural resource management community, the Canadian community, the technological community, and for anyone who is interested in the intersect between these different worlds. To learn more about us, visit us at our website or read on here.

Oseredok is an internationally-recognized repository, museum, archive, library, art gallery, educational and research centre dedicated to the preservation, sharing, promotion, and development of Ukrainian-Canadian and Ukrainian culture and heritage. It is a place where the tradition inherent in the Ukrainian consciousness is preserved and transmitted to future generations. Oseredok’s mandate is to share Canadian Ukrainian cultural experiences by being a champion of, and forum for, Ukrainian heritage in Canada. Oseredok runs a public program of exhibitions, workshops and courses, public lectures, presentations, and special events that are offered and open to all groups in the province. Oseredok’s vision rests on being a non-partisan organization which strives for excellence by maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards in all aspects of its operations and activities. Oseredok values and respects members, volunteers, donors, sponsors, staff, researchers, other organizations, and the public.

For over 75 years, Oseredok has proudly presented exhibitions and programming and collected materials that are relevant to all Manitobans. Working with other cultural groups in Winnipeg and abroad, along with other Ukrainian institutions, Oseredok has always worked to display diversity in Ukrainian culture and community. For Oseredok’s 75th anniversary in 2018 we opened the permanent exhibition “Tradition to Modernity” which showcases items from our collection. Many of the materials on display showcase Ukrainian history in Manitoba through their artistic production. We also displayed “At the Front Line: Ukrainian Art 2013-2019,” which featured contemporary Ukrainian artists that deal with themes of war in Ukraine. Manitoba is the home for many new Ukrainians, who either lived through this war or have family and friends back in Ukraine. Artist Mariia Kryvosheieva, a recent immigrant, exhibited “Manitoba Pioneers, the First Steps” at Oseredok, which relied on our archives to depict the lives of the first Ukrainian immigrants to Manitoba. In the summer of 2021, Oseredok opened up “Celebrating Our Voices—150 Strong!” which is a combination of oral and visual history of Ukrainian Canadians in Manitoba; this exhibition’s goal was to bring the province’s Ukrainian citizens together to celebrate and honour our collective history and contributions. Oseredok’s annual programming, which includes Pysanka (Easter egg) workshops and Ukrainian language courses, aims to invite all Manitobans to participate in Ukrainian culture; we also do special programming regularly inspired by the rotating exhibitions we feature in our gallery space.

We feel confident that this exhibition will succeed in strengthening our community as we grow and share Ukrainian and Ukrainian Canadian art with a broader demographic and expand our reach nationally. With your support, we can stand united in our commitment towards Ukrainian heritage and culture, while also helping to rebuild and revitalize the historic Exchange District in downtown Winnipeg by creating a tourist attraction that will appeal to a wide array of visitors.

Our commitment to Ukrainian heritage and culture begins in Ukraine. Ukrainian curators, digital artists, composers, museum technicians, and videographers are integral to creating the content featured in ‘The Immersive World of Ukrainian Art’. This allows Oseredok to both emphasize the rich cultural heritage of Ukraine, and also to create economic opportunities for talented and creative individuals as they face immense uncertainty. Given Russia’s current attempts to destroy Ukrainian language, culture, and custom, your support of this project is more important than ever.

Downtown Winnipeg, where Oseredok physically resides, has depended on tourism as one of its key economic drivers for decades and all levels of government have invested in this in various forms of enhanced infrastructure.  Over 30 different nationalities are represented and celebrated in downtown Winnipeg; this neighbourhood is also home to many of the city’s most significant heritage assets, which includes the building that Oseredok calls home. The downtown area is Winnipeg’s economic driver that boasts the largest employment concentration and highest density of office development that benefits all Winnipeggers. It’s also home to world class arts, culture and sporting venues that make us unique from other cities. The tourism trade in downtown Winnipeg has been decimated by the pandemic and Oseredok continues to feel the impact of that. The various businesses and organizations in Downtown Winnipeg will be depending on visitors, both domestic and international, to return to Downtown Winnipeg for financial recovery. People are what bring energy to a downtown, making it vibrant and increasing safety. According to a report released by the Winnipeg Downtown Biz in July 2021, since the pandemic began, over 2,000 arts, culture, sports, and entertainment events were cancelled leaving our key attractions and streets nearly empty; the demand for on-street parking decreased by 50% and storefront businesses downtown have lost an average of $2 million a week in gross revenue since the pandemic began Despite the brief respite from the pandemic that came after much of the population was vaccinated against Covid-19, a rise in case-counts and hospitalizations in the fall have caused more restrictions and closures and stalled whatever recovery process was ongoing in downtown Winnipeg, Oseredok would like to be a part of that recovery project by creating a unique tourist attraction in our gallery space that will appeal to individuals and families that are local, national and international in a safe and inclusive atmosphere.  Immersive exhibitions have proven to be wildly popular, with the recent Immersive Vincent Van Gogh exhibit setting records worldwide for attendance.  We hope that by hosting a similar exhibition in our unique space that we will draw people to visit our museum and patronize other surrounding businesses, galleries, museums and restaurants that are downtown.

This project will involve the Ukrainian Canadian community, as well as the local downtown community of Winnipeg and the broader Canadian art community.  The Ukrainian community will have the opportunity to learn about Oseredok’s collections, to develop a deeper appreciation of their culture and heritage, and to explore these pillars of the Ukrainian arts community. Additionally, volunteers and community members are integral to developing which aspects of Oseredok’s collections and of Shevchenko/Prymachenko’s work are highlighted as we strive to meet the needs of and to adapt to the interests of our community members.  We have letters of support from the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; the Ukrainian embassy in Canada will co-partner with us on this project as well. The local community will be involved through our close partnerships with various stakeholder organizations. For example, we partner with organizations such as The Exchange District Biz which aids in the economic development of Winnipeg’s downtown core, The Association of Manitoba Museums which connects various cultural resource management institutions in the province, MAWA which highlights the contributions of Women to the Arts, and The Ukrainian Canadian Congress which serves as an umbrella organization which helps to connect Ukrainian-Canadians across the country. Winnipeggers, Manitobans, and Canadians alike will also be involved in attending the project, exploring the online content, and engaging with our programming.

The project will expand the everyday Canadian’s knowledge of Shevchenko and Prymachenko, artists who exemplify the breadth of the Ukrainian art tradition, from the figurative and academic to the avant-garde. Shevchenko as a pillar of the Ukrainian arts renaissance and Prymachenko was an inspiration for art in the 20th century and an excellent example of outsider art.  As we attempt to expand the Western cannon to include artists from beyond Western Europe, exhibitions like this one which highlight the tremendous artistic talent of women, outsider artists, folk-artists, and those unashamed to acknowledge the beauty in their culture and language, exhibitions like this one continue be relevant.  This project is an opportunity to unite our community and to create more connections. Art exhibitions like this one can educate Canadians and Ukrainian-Canadians alike, for adults and families, for Anglophones, Francophones, and other language speakers, and for those both within and outside of Winnipeg. Additionally, Oseredok takes seriously the issue of accessibility and whether visitors access the space physically or virtually, those with special needs or those still unable to travel for reasons of public safety will have online access to the exhibition and the opportunity explore it together with other visitors.

Finally, as the war in Ukraine continues to rage, the work of cultural diplomacy that Oseredok engages in becomes more important than ever. Oseredok was founded by emigres from Ukraine such as Oleksander Koshetz who understood the power of arts and culture to unite diverse peoples. We are happy to carry on this mission, and warmly ask you to join us by sponsoring The Immersive World of Ukrainian Art. To help us plan this exhibition, we kindly ask for your response by June 1^st, 2022.

You may support this exhibition by making a financial contribution through cheque, credit card or on our website: Donate to Oseredok.  If you would like to make the donation on our website, please select the “Cultural Programming and Exhibitions” allocation. If you would like to make your gift to us by cheque, please make it payable to “The Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre”.

We are more than happy to discuss this exhibition further with you, so please let us know before or after you make a contribution towards it!