The Euromaidan Project and Taras Shevchenko's 200th

While the physical conflicts that lead to the flight of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych were begin fought in Kyiv's Independence Square with stones and Molotov cocktails, a battle of ideas was also taking place.
In the struggle against the Yanukovych on what became known as the Euromaidan one of the major weapons was graphic art -- posters that expressed rejection of the regime and aspirations for a different kind of Ukraine.
Fifty of the the posters that went up around the square and elsewhere can now be seen as part of The Euromaidan Project: The Art of Revolution, an exhibition now on at the St. John's Institute Culture and Arts Centre in Edmonton.
"The 50 posters displayed here circulated widely on the Maidan," said curator Dr. Bohdan Kordan, a professor at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon.
"Designed and created for mass distribution through the medium of the private, they testify to a deep desire for change and are symbolic of the best impulses of a society mobilizing for it's own defense."
With their striking graphics and vibrant color, predominantly the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian, these creations are reminiscent of Cuban revolutionary posters and the imagery of the May-June 1968 revolt in France. Many incorporate a single drop, meant to symbolize that the convictionss of each individual collectively make up an ocean of protest.
The Euromaidan Project can be seen at St. John's Institute, 11024-82 Avenue, until Sunday, March 16. The institute is largely a residence, so visitors have to ring to be buzzed in.
From Edmonton the exhibition organized by the St. Thomas More Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian will travel to Winnipeg, Toronto and Yorkton.
Bicentennial of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's national poet
"Ukraine, O my dear Ukraine,
My dearest!
When I think of you, my homeland,
My heart can only cry…"
-- Taras Shevchenko, Night of Taras, November 6, 1838. (Translated by Peter Fedynsky.)
Although in Night of Taras Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's most renowned bard, was speaking of an earlier period of the country's history when it was oppressed by Poles and Russians, one can imagine that those would also be his sentiments today.
This month marks the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth in Simferopol in the Crimea, currently torn apart by a crisis in Ukraine-Russia relations and ethnic conflict between their respective groups in the territory.
However, planned celebrations in Sebastapol to mark Shevchenko's March 9 birthday were disrupted by clashes between Russians and Ukrainians, although a celebration in his hometown went smoothly.
The Shevchenko bicentennial is being celebrated with an exhibition at the University of Alberta's  Rutherford Library. The small display of books and artwork reproductions is located in the Galleria, just outside Rutherford South.
Also commemorating the bicentennial will be a concert put on by Ukrainian Art Song Project in the city on Friday, March 15. Part of a series of concerts taking place in North America and Ukraine, the concert will include a choral cantata, The Raging Rivers, by Mykola Lysenko, and Testament, by Mykhailo Verbytksyj.
Sponsored locally by the Ukrainian, Music Society of Alberta, The concert will be held at 7 p.m.  at the West End Christian Reformed Church, 10015-149th Street. Tickets are available at Orbit, Meest and at the door.
In addition to the concerts, the Ukrainian Art Song Project is celebrating the bicentennial with the release of a featuring art songs based on Shevchenko poems. Further information is available at http://www.musicaleopolis.com.