International symposium on Ukrainian icons held in Kyiv
An international cultural symposium, The Ukrainian Icon and Icon-Painting in the Diaspora, was organized in Kyiv a couple of weeks ago by the Ministry of Culture and the Arts, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Committee on Religion, et al. It also commemorated the sesquicentennial of Ukrainian settlement in America. Among those present were icon painters from the Ukrainian diaspora, and the main objective was assistance with the revival and advancement of icon- painting in Ukraine and abroad.
Mykhailo Horyn, Chairman of the Ukrainian Coordinating Council, described the Ukrainian icon symposium “a unique undertaking, a unique gathering of Ukrainian icon-painters and experts. It is evidence that the icon-painiting art is reviving after the barbarian onslaughts of the twentieth century, and that Ukrainians all over the world are rallying round Ukraine. In attendance were artists from the United States, Canada, Australia, Slovakia, Italy, Great Britain, Brazil, and other countries. This symposium is the first of its kind and I hope that not the last one by far!”
Zoya Panova, one of the leading symposium organizers (she holds the prestigious title of Meritorious Worker of Art and directs the Culture Ministry’s Department for Ukrainian Ethnic Cultures and the Diaspora), believes that the seminar was something unique, among other things because “they drew no line between science and art,” adding, “Artists and experts on the fine arts took part in a four-day scientific conference and discussion. There were no uninteresting papers and those present eagerly discussed trends, styles, and shades. Almost everyone in attendance had a chance to speak his or her mind.
“We had to travel a long thorny path from the idea of the symposium to its implementation. I can gratefully acknowledge the involvement of some of the highest government officials. The president of Ukraine sent his message of greetings and the opening ceremony was attended by the Vice Premier in charge of culture, deputies, and delegates from the National Academy of Sciences. I think that all of us gathered here and could work with such dedication for such was God’s will.”
An important role was played in the arrangements for holding of the symposium by Dmytro Stepovyk with PhDs in theology, philosophy, and art, author of a host of monographs addressing icon-painting (Ukrainian Graphic Arts in the XVI-XVII Centuries, On the History of Ukrainian Icons: X-XX Centuries...) “Three months of one’s life were dedicated to the assembling in Kyiv of Ukrainian [icon-] painters from all over the world. Also, arrangements had to be made for the holding of three exhibits at the same time. One was titled Pater Noster: a hundred icons from the private collection of Mr. Panamarchuk of Kyiv; most exposed to public view for the first time, included the Icon Catalog compiled by Mr. Stepovyk.
(N.B.: Ihor Panamarchuk is a professional cardiologist. In the early 1990s, he quit medicine and joined a firm specializing in antiquities, focusing on sacral objets d’art. His collection of icons is unique, recognized the best private collection in Ukraine, if not in the world. Mr. Panamarchuk plans to set up an icon museum in Kyiv, thus making the masterpieces in his collection accessible to the general public. He is also a recognized philanthropist, presenting icons to houses churches and pictures to children’s homes.)
“The Pater Noster exposition represents the Cossack Hetman period, the most thrilling in Ukrainian history. At that time Ukrainian icon-painting was noticeably distinct from Byzantine conservatism as Renaissance and baroque traits became increasingly obvious. Ukrainian icons, while losing nothing in terms of sanctity, came closer to man, lit from within with human warmth and empathy. Thus, a number of icons portray the Virgin Mary as cheerful rather than mournful; we see the Mother of God foretelling the Resurrection and Ascension of Her Son. Icons became more human, and this process coincided with a period of struggle for the revival of the Ukrainian national state. The Russian Church would subsequently denounce those icons as uncanonical, so Ukrainian icon-painting would begin to reveal itself to the world only in the new epoch [of Ukrainian independence — Ed.] and proved a domain little explored even by experts.”
Another exhibit within the symposium framework is titled The Way Home, representing icons painted by diaspora artists. The exposition incluides works by Christine Dohwat (US), Vira Senczuk (Canada), Rostislaw Hluwko (UK), to mention but a few. The third display titled “My Truth” is dedicated to the icon- painting studios and schools of Ukraine. Mr. Stepovyk believes that “all three expositions offered the residents of Kyiv a dazzling palette of colors as well as styles, ranging from olden times to modern trends.” Mr. Stepovyk appears to attach special importance to the diaspora role in the process: “Just as the totalitarian regime was all out to kill our faith, destroying churches and pieces of church art, Ukrainian settlers far away from their homeland, separated by oceans and seas, did their best to revive the icon-painting art.”
During an intercession at the symposium, Prof. Jacob Bruchowecki, University of Toronto, an expert on theology and icon-painting, kindly agreed to an interview with The Day (Prof. Bruchowecki also [visits Ukraine] to deliver lectures, and his works on theology and the spirituality of icons are well-known in this country).
The scholar said that his lectures in Canada were attended not only by Ukrainian-Canadians and that there was a noticeably increasing interest in Ukrainian icon-painting. He said that his lectures were attended by Roman Catholics and an increasing number of Anglicans; the latter being very interested in history in general and Ukrainian icon-painting in particular. He added that he was invited to seminars and that he always included the history of Kyiv Rus’ icon-painting in his academic courses. He stressed that icons originating from Kyiv Rus’ were the source of Moscow and White Russian icon-painting, regardless of what might be alleged to the contrary.
Prof. Bruchowecki said that his every visit to Ukraine was a happy occasion — and not only for him. He once ran into a group of Italian tourists in St. Sophia Square. They struck up a conversation and some of the Italians said they could sense a special degree of spirituality in the very atmosphere of Kyiv. He did not object, nor was he surprised to hear it, for Kyiv was, to him, the second Promised Land (unfortunately, a fact often ignored nowadays).
When asked whether he could detect any progress in Ukrainian society, Prof. Bruchowecki replied that it was his ninth visit to Ukraine (if one were to ignore the fact that he was born here, in 1940, in what is now Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, and that he had a number of relatives here, including twelve male and female cousins). He first visited this country in 1989 and was dumb-struck to see empty store counters. Since then he has witnessed certain progress, although he was convinced that Ukraine still has a long way to go to attain a twenty-first century living standard. Nevertheless, one had to acknowledge what had been actually attained. Even his native town of Dolyna was being renovated, tidied up, embellished with flowerbeds. Who was paying for all this? His twelve cousins included optimists as well as pessimists. The latter insisted that whatever progress in Ukraine was kept at a snail pace, while the optimists objected that even a snail could get there, slowly but surely.
Prof. Bruchowecki felt quite satisfied with the Ukrainian icon symposium; there were interesting works on display, interesting papers delivered, and the participants were offered a series of cultural events. He was very impressed by the Choral Litanies concert at St. Michael’s Cathedral, starring four virtuoso choirs (the Kyiv, Pavanna, Khreshchatyk, and Revutsky State Choirs). Everyone agreed, he said, that no one had heard anything like it ever before, not even in Rome. He was reminded of those envoys telling Prince Volodymyr about the Byzantine rite: “We no longer knew where we were, on earth or in heaven.” He and the rest in the audience (all standing, as there were no rows of seats, something the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ought to have long reconsidered and acted upon — as has been done in Greece — Author ) saw that there were a number of young people among the adherents, and that none of them would leave or make a sound while listening. He said that in Canada such events were usually attended by the elderly. He said he was once again convinced that the resurrection of our soul would come from Kyiv.
