Contribution of Ukrainians from Abroad into the Organization of Art Collection of the Museum of History of the National University of «Ostroh Academy» and Popularization of Works of Ukrainian Diaspora Artists

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the developing of the Museum of History of the National University of «Ostroh Academy». The author underlines the role of the Ukrainian diaspora in this process. Special attention is paid to the analysis of art collections of Ukrainian artists from abroad at the Museum of Ostroh Academy, which were organized in cooperation with the Ukrainian diaspora community. The University has an ancient history, which started in 1576, but in the middle of the XVII century this educational institution was closed. Ostroh Academy was renovated in 1994 after long time of oblivion. In 1997 the Museum of History of Ostroh Academy was founded. A great contribution into its development was made by Ukrainians from abroad. They supported the Museum, sent interesting exhibits, and joined the Museum projects. Nowadays the Museum has valuable art collections; among them one can find sculptures of well-known Ukrainian artists Mirtala Pylypenko and Petro Kapshuchenko. Moreover, Mirtala Pylypenko has presented one collection of her works. She is a sculptor with a long exhibiting career who has combined images of her sculptures with her poems, creating the whole that is greater than its parts. Mirtala’s collection of sculptures is monumental, philosophic and gracious. However, at the same time, it is sunny and brings back the life-asserting symbols of eternal space and time. Although she has spent the biggest part of her life across the ocean in the USA, her soul remains tied to Ukraine. Moreover, Bronislawa Skorupska together with the Mykhaliuk family presented Kapshuchenko’s sculptures. Oleksandr Mykhaliuk, a member of the Ukrainian Diaspora in the United States and the Chairman of the Fund of the Students of Former Ukrainian Rivne Gymnasia in Philadelphia, was the sculptor's close friend. The majority of the sculptures received form the Mykhaliuk family have been given to them as presents by Mr. Kapshuchenko. Petro Kapshuchenko is not widely known in Ukraine, since the artist left his motherland in 1945. He got the first chance to come back here only in the 1990s. Being in the centre of the artistic life of Philadelphia, Petro Kapshuchenko always used Ukrainian motives and symbols in his creations. Therefore, among 7,000 of his sculptures, the most famous are the projects of monuments to Princess Olha and Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky in Bound Brook (New Jersey, USA), numerous miniatures on Cossack life and sculptural portraits of famous Ukrainians. Mirtala Pylypenko and Petro Kapshuchenko are extraordinary people in Ukrainian art. Nowadays many generations of university students have an opportunity to get acquainted with their unique talent. Hence, it is important to acknowledge Ukrainians with these artists. There are many interesting books and things devoted to the history of the Ukrainian Diaspora and represented in different museum exhibitions. The Museum organized a few interesting exhibitions dedicated to the Ukrainian art heritage. Among them one can visit the exhibition of Olenska-Petryshyn paintings and the exhibition of Ołeksa Nowakiwski art, organized in cooperation with Professor Mykola Mushynka. Therefore, the Museum tries to preserve and represent the Ukrainian Diaspora art and history in museum collections.