The “Tree Of Life” Motif In The Embroidery Of Table Coverings And Ritual Cloths—“Rushnyky”—From Central Ukraine:Artifacts From The Private Collection Of D.Dmytrykiw, Curator, The Ukrainian Museum-Archives Of Cleveland

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio—Notre Dame College’s Clara Fritzsche Library will host “The ‘Tree of Life Motif’ in the Embroidery of Table Coverings and Ritual Cloths-‘Rushnyky’-from Central Ukraine,” an exhibit of textiles from the private collection of Danylo Dmytrykiw, Curator of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives of Cleveland. The ritual cloths (rushnyky) and other coverings to be exhibited are all very fine, unique examples of original embroidered textiles dating from the mid-19th to early-20th century that depict the "Tree of Life" motif and originate from the area of Central Ukraine (present-day Poltava, Kyiv and Chernihiv Oblasts).

The main decorative element of these Central Ukrainian textiles, the "Tree of Life" motif, became popular in the 17th-18th centuries as an adaptation of local archaic symbols to the Renaissance/Baroque styles of the time. They are artistic renderings of the complex belief system of ancient times and thought to represent the interrelationships of ancient trichotomies such as "underworld/earth/heavens” and/or "past/present/future." This motif is thought by some to have its origins in the ancient depictions of the pre-Christian Ukrainian goddess "Berehynia," the form of which, over time, became stylized and distorted, eventually transforming into the floral depiction that we know and recognize today.

This exhibition was developed by Danylo Dmytrykiw, Curator of Cleveland's Ukrainian Museum-Archives of Cleveland. Dmytrykiw has had a life-long interest in Ukrainian culture and considerable experience in museum and collections management. He worked as a consultant at the Polish National Museum of Ethnography in Krakow, helping to identify items in the Ukrainian Ethnographic Division and assisting in preparing exhibits. He spent ten years in Poland overall, working on Masters and Ph.D. programs at Jageillonian University and conducting fieldwork in ethnography in the Carpathian Mountains and Western Oblasts of Ukraine. Through his travels Dmytrykiw amassed a vast personal collection of over 500 pieces of regional folk costume and embroidery. All textiles to be exhibited will be on loan from the D. Dmytrykiw Ukrainian Ethnographic Research Collection, Library & Archives of Westlake, Ohio.

The exhibit is being co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Museum Archives of Cleveland. Located in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, the Ukrainian Museum-Archives was founded in 1952 by displaced scholars with the mission of collecting and preserving items from Ukrainian history and culture during an era when these types of items were being deliberately destroyed in Soviet Ukraine. Today the UMA is dedicated to sharing its collections of artifacts, books and periodicals and artworks with scholars and the general public. Of particular interest is an extensive collection of materials relating to Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko.

The exhibit will run from February 8th through March 28, 2007. An opening reception will be held on February 8th from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information, contact Karen Zoller at (216) 373-5267.