Getting back to our roots

Halas (“clamor” in Ukrainian) is the name of a festival of ethnic culture that took place recently in Ostroh, on the premises of the estate once owned by the princes of Ostroh. It was organized very quickly, in just three days. This is record time, considering the stereotypical allegations of the rigid bureaucratic approach practiced in urban areas. This means that these kinds of festivals are really needed.

“Holding this festival on the site of an old castle once owned by the Ostrozky princely family, in one of the oldest cultural and historic centers of Eastern Europe, is probably a logical reflection of processes underway in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. The world today is like a squirrel running round in a cage. The squirrel can’t see the variety of forms and structures that exist outside the cage. This squirrel is only interested in the rate of movement. In the modern world a language, or ethnos, dies out every day. Traditions, history, and spirituality are becoming extinct,” say the members of the organizing committee made up of Ostroh’s civic organization, the Institute of Political and Information Studies, the Ostroh Historical and Cultural Preserve, along with numerous student volunteers from Ostroh Academy National University. Their concerns explain the motivation, topicality, and perhaps the pressing need for the Halas Festival.

As was to be expected, the new festival was launched on a small scale. One participant said that the project has good prospects, including participation by other ethnic communities and master classes dealing with various crafts practiced by our ancestors.

Today, Halas is not simply an attempt to popularize Ukrainian art and culture, unique traditions. It is also a festive occasion for city residents and visitors. The festival was organized thanks to the dedicated efforts of performing groups, such as Hudaky (Nyzhne Selyshche, a village in Zakarpattia), Marakuia (Ostroh), Dzherelo (Rivne), Una Corda (Ostroh), and Yana and Halia Kuryshko’s Duet (Rivne).

Guests had a chance to admire Cossack fencing duels, thanks to Kyiv’s martial arts organization Spas, as well as unique examples of decorative arts made by folk artists, and to taste Transcarpathian cheese made high-quality milk and modern Swiss techniques. Halas proved to be a welcome intrusion into the peaceful, ancient town of Ostroh. In fact, the provincial quiet of this medieval place has never encouraged spiritual backwardness, something our society is often accused of these days.

The festival motto, “Return to the Roots,” does not call for regression. According to performer Yana Kuryshko, the ancient arts were flawless and in the process of their development they are paradoxically becoming simplified. Perhaps we are really reaching perfection by side roads. Who knows? Maybe every clamor has an echo.