World Ukrainian Garden to be launched in Lviv

LVIV — Come June, this city will host the third get-together of ethnic Ukrainians from all over the world to discuss the possibilities of Ukraine’s cooperation with the international ethnic Ukrainian community, figure out the best ways of cooperation, and consider measures aimed at preserving the national identity. The initiator and organizer of these meetings is the International Institute for Culture, Education and Contacts with Diaspora (MIOK) at Lviv’s Polytechnic Institute National University. This time, prior to the World Ukrainian Forum, it was decided to establish a World Ukrainian Garden in Lviv. This project is being implemented by the remarkably energetic MIOK Director Iryna Kliuchkovska. The WUG idea belongs to Larysa Ivshyna, the editor in chief of Den/The Day. Our friends at MIOK sent us a letter describing the preparations: “This Institute, in supporting Editor in Chief Larysa Ivshyna’s idea, initiated the World Ukrainian Garden Project. Our project was instantly supported by Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovy.”

Ivshyna voiced this idea (rather, her cherished dream) back in 2000, in Den’s article entitled “Without elevated sentiments.” She wrote that this garden should be laid out in Independence Square in Kyiv: “Today’s events often seem to take us back to the late 1980s, when our life was taking its course and that of the officials in power was taking theirs. We are risking recording, thus eternalizing this dual course. Perhaps the best solution to this problem would be to impose a moratorium on the burying of money in the sand, for at least another decade, stopping budget spending to erect monuments that have not been reinterpreted and that convey no new messages. I don’t think that new idols, pretty girls with bread and salt, or the trident, which has replaced the sickle and hammer, will help… We must be aware of the kind of language that befits the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. Until it is developed, perhaps the best idea would be to open a beautiful landscape park in Kyiv’s main square that would be convenient for the citizens. We also need to find a place, no worse than the Triumphal Arch, where our national flag would be unfurled. Such a project would probably run counter to our tradition and many would object to it, but I believe that greenery, flowers, and fountains would gladden the public eye more than our pompous official concrete-and-granite structures. I think that such a project would mark a change in the language of our times.”

Says MIOK Director Iryna KLIUCHKOVSKA: “Den’s last year’s event at our National University — followed by similar ones at other Ukrainian institutions of higher learning — was more than a debate on historical memory… It was a memorable meeting that led other projects. We met with Larysa Ivshyna at Lviv’s Polytechnic Institute to discuss the international ethnic Ukrainian community, and she eventually shared her idea of a World Ukrainian Garden.

“Considering that our Institute is regularly holding congresses under the motto ‘Diaspora as the Ukrainian State-Building Factor for the International Community,’ Lviv is becoming the center of this international ethnic Ukrainian community, so we figured we might as well carry out Larysa Ivshyna’s project here in Lviv.

“Of course, getting this project through the post-Soviet red tape maze was easier said than done, but we were happy to be aided by Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovy who immediately supported the idea and ordered the pertinent City Council’s departments to get at it. Finding the site took a long time, for we wanted the garden to be located in an area favored by the general public…

“The trees will be planted in the Shevchenkivsky Hai [Shevchenko Grove] which is part of the Folk Architecture and Daily Life Museum. I visited the museum’s board’s meeting and took part in an enjoyable, constructive discussion. I could see that the people cared for every inch of their land, for every plant, so their decision to allocate a plot for the Garden seemed especially significant, considering that the Museum is regularly visited by people wishing to take part in religious, national, even official commemorative ceremonies.

“We’re planning to set up memorial plaques next to every tree to remind our people that we have to work hard to help all those 20 million ethnic Ukrainians outside Ukraine start cooperating with us — the more so that they are prepared and willing to do just that. We will start planting the garden in April, as recommended by experts. We will launch the Garden in June, with the aid our Congress members. Ethnic Ukrainians from various countries will attach strings to the trees that have taken root.

“To date, we have people from 20 countries who have agreed to take part in our project. Our Lviv Congress will be supported by the World and European Ukrainian Congresses, also by the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council. Last night [Den carried this story on Feb. 12, 2010 — Ed.] we received a call from the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organization and learned that they wanted to take part in and finance this project. They asked us if we could plant a tree on behalf of WFUWO. As the head of our institute, I have meant to develop contacts with ethnic Ukrainians elsewhere in the world, so I wish to express my special appreciation for Larysa Ivshyna’s untiring effort and inspiring ideas. I am happy to know that we can carry out her project in Lviv. After all, we want all ethnic Ukrainians to sense their presence in Ukraine, at a time when cultural treasures created by Ukrainian emigres are being returned to their homeland, to add to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

“This Garden will remind people that there are 20 million ethnic Ukrainians who live outside Ukraine, but whose hearts are in Ukraine. We regard this project as a very symbolic one. Why a garden? First, because it will be a beautiful one, with its trees blossoming in spring. Every ethnic Ukrainian will visit it and find the tree that symbolizes this Ukrainian’s country of residence, being planted in the ancestral land. We would be happy to see Larysa Ivshyna’s project being carried out all over Ukraine, not only in Lviv, so that every Ukrainian city could have such a garden. This is very important, considering that ethnic Ukrainians who now live abroad came from all regions of Ukraine.

“We had a project entitled ‘Emigre Children Commenting on Themselves.’ We tried to implement it traveling across Ukraine, and saw that there were such children in every region, in the east, west, north, and south. Therefore, I think that carrying out Larysa Ivshyna’s project all over Ukraine would serve our country’s best purpose.

“Den/The Day’s project and photo exhibit at Lviv’s Polytechnic Institute yielded unexpectedly good results. In the first place, we’re gradually translating Larysa Ivshyna’s splendid project into life. Second, our students prove to be regular readers of this newspaper. Third, our Institute is a regular subscriber to Den/The Day. Finally and perhaps most importantly, this newspaper continues to be a powerful information source, considering that it speaks about the past, present, and future. This newspaper is an inexhaustible source of information and good ideas for us.”