Kule Folklore Centre at the U of A

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Utoplena (Mais'ka nich) (The drowned maiden, or May night) : A lyrical-fantasia opera in three acts, four scenes / Libretto based on Hohol, written by Mykh[ailo] Starytsky, Music by M[ykola] Lysenko
𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆: Hohol, Mykola
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Leipzig : Ukrainska Nakladnia
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: 208 p. : music ; 28 cm
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁-𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲: [Hoholʹ, Mykola Vasylʹovych] Gogolʹ, Nikolaĭ Vasilʹevich, 1809–1852
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁-𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲: Lysenko, Mykola Vitaliiovych, 1842–1912, Composer
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁-𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲: Shevchenko, Taras, 1814–1861. Utoplena Adaptations

The Drowned Maiden (May Night) is a fantastical lyric opera comprised of three acts and four scenes, with the libretto by Mykhailo Starytskyi, after Mykola Hohol (Nikolai Gogol) and music by Mykola Lysenko.

The KuFC regularly features books in our “Library Finds” series about culture, folklore, and heritage. These titles and many others are held in our library and are frequently accessed by researchers and scholars. Check out the library in our bio or at https://www.wikilibrary.com/opac/home.php. In-person viewings require an appointment.

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Konservatsiia ta pereroblennia sadovyny i horodyny: UTHI Kurs lektsii (Canning and processing of orchard and garden produce: Series of lessons from the [Ukrainian Technical and Husbandry Institute] correspondence school) - No. 205 / UTHI
𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆: Frolov, Leonid
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Czech Republic: Poděbrady; Ukrainian Technical and Husbandry Institute correspondence school, 1935.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: 195 p. : ill., charts ; 29 cm

Excerpts from lessons (translated):

“Plums to be cut in half. Wipe freshly picked plums with a towel, divide into halves (discard pits), pack into jars, fill with syrup, and sterilize for 20 minutes at 90°.”

“The compote can be made from dried fruits. Wash dried fruits in a bowl of water, add a litre or three-quarters of a litre of lemon juice, rinse them with warm water, and then rinse well with water. The washed and dried fruits are added to the syrup (for 1 kg dried fruits, add 150–200 g sugar), cinnamon and grated zest are added, and everything is boiled until the dried fruits are transferred to jars; syrup is poured over the fruits again. The jars are sealed. Oranges are boiled and cooled to a soft state. Lastly, small berries are usually processed into marmalade, jelly, and jam. After cooling, the jars will be sealed.” )

The KuFC regularly features books in our “Library Finds” series about culture, folklore, and heritage. These titles and many others are held in our library and are frequently accessed by researchers and scholars. Check out the library in our bio or at https://www.wikilibrary.com/opac/home.php. In-person viewings require an appointment.

More information on the UTHI: https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CU%5CK%5CUkrainianTechnicalandHusbandryInstitute.htm

Folk songs are a powerful tool for preserving cultural memory — they allow us not only to discover stories told by previous generations, but also to connect with them on an emotional level, thanks to the power of music and lyrics.

Canadian folklorist Dr. Robert Klymasz (1936–2024) was well aware of the importance of folk songs and dedicated many years of his life to travelling and conducting fieldwork, during which he recorded hundreds of songs sung by Ukrainian settlers on the prairies. One song from his collection (stored in the KuFC’s Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives) can help us hear and feel an opinion about Canada held by the first Ukrainian immigrants.

The song, “𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘰, 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘰, 𝘪𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘵𝘺 𝘻𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺𝘷𝘢” (Oh, Canada, how deceitful you are), describes the bitter realities of families separated when a husband emigrates to find a living in Canada, where the unfriendly conditions are often less than what was promised. To ease his sorrow, the speaker sitting in Canada sends a letter 𝘥𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘰𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘶 ‘to the homeland’ to find out how his family is doing. Interestingly, the last two verses in Klymasz’s recording deviate from more established versions of the song, uniquely and fancifully presenting the migrant worker sitting on a bridge, contemplating the ocean that separates him from his wife and little children in Ukraine, waiting in vain for a 𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘬𝘢 ‘little fish’ to bring him a longed-for answer to his letter.

Listen to the song through the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives:
https://archives.ukrfolk.ca/kanado-kanado-iaka-ty-zradlyva-2

The materials for this post were sourced in part from the doctoral thesis of Kule Folklore Centre alumna Dr. Olga Zaitseva-Herz, who had worked closely with the Medwidsky Archives’ Robert Klymasz Collection during her doctoral and post-doctoral studies.

We hope you had a chance to see the Chasing Gophers exhibit at the Vegreville Pysanka Festival. Stay connected for the upcoming KuFC 2026/2027 schedule.

Image: Jonathan Grossman and Sia Chernyavska after setting up the exhibit

The Chasing Gophers exhibit is on display at the Vegreville Pysanka Festival! We hope you have a chance to visit the folk arts pavilion.

Happy Canada Day from the KuFC team!

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Мене вчили зради (I was Taught Betrayal)
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Ivan Hladun
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿: Winnipeg: Ukrainian Publishing Company, 1948.
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 46 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁: Agents provocateurs Canada, Espionage Ukrainian Canada, Communism Canada, Ex-communists Canada, Biographies
𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲: Ukrainian

I was Taught Betrayal by Ivan Hladun is a gripping memoir about ideology, survival, and disillusionment. Tracing his journey from youth through Communist indoctrination, propaganda work, and eventual exposure to the realities of the Soviet system, he reveals the inner workings of political manipulation, exile, and resistance.

Hladun’s stark and personal account sheds light on the human cost of totalitarian regimes—and the struggle to hold on to truth and identity.

𝗞𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵

In June, the Kule Folklore Centre team travelled to Reykjavik, Iceland, to take part in one of the most significant events in the world of folklore studies — the biennial conference of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR). The four-day event, held at the University of Iceland, brought together hundreds of scholars from across the globe to explore this year’s theme: “Nature(s) in Narrative.” Iceland proved a fitting host for such a gathering — a country where attention to oral tradition, folklore, and the written word runs especially deep and whose breathtaking natural landscape inspired many meaningful discussions both during and between sessions.

The KuFC team organized two full panels, spanning three sessions and bringing together participants, both in-person and online, from across Europe and North America. Beyond the panels, coffee breaks, working group meetings, committee sessions, and cultural tours provided excellent opportunities to build new connections with scholars whose work intersects with the KuFC themes of narrating nature, Ukrainian folklore, and wartime ecocide. Attendees who stopped by the centre’s sessions learned more about our work, and many left with KuFC brochures and stickers. Local Ukrainian volunteers helping at the conference also noted, with cautious optimism, a growing interest in Ukrainian topics within Iceland’s academic and cultural scene, and the KuFC was honoured to contribute.

Learn more: uab.ca/Kule2026ISNR

Image 1: Iryna Koval-Fuchylo, Nataliia Yesypenko, Anna Olenenko, Oleksandr Pankieiev, Oksana Mykytenko, Tetiana Perga, Dmytro Yesypenko

Image 2: Participants of the panel "Narrating nature in times of war" — Dmytro Yesypenko, Ieva Garda-Rozenberga, Nadiia Popyk, Tetiana Perga, Zenia Kish, Anna Olenenko, Viktoria Naumenko, Oleksandr Pankieiev

When people think of archives, they often imagine administrative records, old photographs, or historical documents. Yet among the thousands of items preserved at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives (BMUFA), there are also unexpected treasures that continue to surprise researchers.

One such treasure is a small portion of the archive of Ukrainian poet, literary scholar, and public intellectual Yar Slavutych, transferred to the BMUFA as part of the collections of the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta (UCAMA). Although it occupies only two archival boxes, its contents are extraordinary. The collection contains autographs, manuscripts, typescripts with authors’ corrections, and letters by prominent Ukrainian and Belarusian authors from the 1920s to the 1940s, including Valeriian Pidmohylny and Yevhen Pluzhnyk. Many of these writers were persecuted during the Soviet era, and only fragments of their personal archives have survived.

Another fascinating story concerns the artist Lev (Leon) Getz, one of the most important Ukrainian painters active in interwar Poland, who continued his artistic career after the Second World War. He faced considerable political and personal challenges throughout his life. Near the end, portions of his archive were entrusted to Harry (Hryhory) Yopyk, co-founder of UCAMA, and eventually became part of the BMUFA collections. Today, Getz’s archival legacy is dispersed across several countries and institutions, making every surviving document especially valuable. Recently, a researcher from the University of Warsaw, who has spent years studying Lev Getz and working with archival sources, learned that our Medwidsky Archives hold additional materials related to the artist. She described the discovery as “entirely new information” and “an important contribution to the existing body of knowledge about his life and work.”

Stories like these remind us that archives are much more than repositories of the past. They are places of discovery, where even a single archival box can reveal forgotten connections, preserve endangered cultural heritage, and open new paths for research.