Ukraine Museum

Type: Museums Culture
Country: Russia
Year of opening: 2007
Project Partners: UNESCO

The Ukraine Museum was opened in the territory of «ETNOMIR» Cultural and Educational Center on November 14, 2007.

Ukraine Museum in «ETNOMIR»

The Ethnographic Museum is meant to popularize classical Ukrainian culture and acquaint visitors with the cultural heritage, traditions and way of life of the peoples of Ukraine. The museum is located in the territory of Ukraine and Belarus ethnic yard in a traditional wattle hut. Its structure consists of a wooden frame reinforced with rods, vines, twigs and reeds. The walls of the hut are plastered on both sides with a special compound based on local clay and straw. It is the most common and affordable building material for the steppe zone of Ukraine. The hut is bleached outside and inside to have a festive look. A low-hanging roof covered with a layer of reeds shelters the house from the hot sun.

The Ukraine Ethnographic Museum presents two thematic expositions. The first one tells about the traditional life and arrangement of a wattle hut. In the center of the hut there is a painted stove richly decorated with famous Petrykivka paintings. A stove in a Ukrainian hut is a functional and aesthetic center of the house with the value of an amulet. Rushnyky, bright towels of homespun canvas, are inevitable on the windows and in the krasny ugol1 (icon corner) of a light bleached hut. They have practical and ritual purposes and are often used in folk rituals associated with ancient Slavic traditions. The paintings are presented in the form of embroidery with the image of vines and bunches of grapes, acorns and oak leaves, cranberry and other fruit plants.

Another exhibition of the Ukraine Museum is dedicated to life of Hutsul presenting festive Hutsul clothes, wool carpet with a unique Hutsul ornament and world-famous leather shoes. The unique exhibits include Hutsul trembita, dulcimers, bagpipes, bandurka and other musical instruments of the peoples of Ukraine. Pictures of folk costumes from different Ukrainian regions are of special interest. Clothes of each area have an original combination of colors, unique ornaments and special fit. By looking at the clothes, one can quite accurately determine the place of residence and social status of each owner of the national costume.

[1] Traditionally, the best and most important place in the home was the krasny ugol ("beautiful corner"), where the icons were kept.