Shevchenko days in Donetsk

March is a month of remembering the nation’s Bard in Ukraine. The Donbas did not allow itself to be left behind, hosting the literary and musical evening “There Will Be a Son, and There Will be a Mother, and There Will Be People on the Earth” at the Donetsk Culture Workers’ House. The event’s organizer was a public relations official from the Donetsk National University, winner of the national Olena Teliha and Taras Shevchenko artistic recital contests, local historian Maria Kushmet. Along with the women’s fate and the fate of Ukraine, which were the main themes of the meeting, the participants covered also events of Shevchenko’s life and the poet’s worldview, performed poems and songs.

Art director of the ArtDonbas artistic exhibition center, winner of the International Contest-Festival Slavic Commonwealth Kateryna Kalinichenko impressed the public with her enthusiastic speech. She read a poem by Shevchenko, and then showed us all how the Bard should be perceived now by reading our contemporary Pavlo Hirnyk’s poem. Many of us see the master as an old man in sheepskin coat and Cossack cap, but we forget that he was only 47 years old when he died! Teacher consultant Valentyna Kushmet recited a poem by our contemporary Ivan Drach, while songs to lyrics by Shevchenko, sung by the laureate of international lyrical song competitions Tetiana Bukaieva and the composer and accompanist Olena Pikus, added the lyric dimension to the event. Shevchenko birth and death anniversary celebrations ended with presentation of bread which we hold the dearest of all.