Nuit Blanche Goers Get a Taste of Ukrainian-Canadian Artwork

By Marta Iwanek

Local Ukrainian artists were given an opportunity to display their artwork on October 3 as the Ukrainian Student’s  Club at the University of Toronto (USC) kicked off their first event of the year.

The club organized an art show, held at St. Vladimir Institute in Toronto, which coincided with the city’s annual Nuit Blanche, an event that involves hundreds of artists from Canada and abroad transforming the city into an  all-night free art gallery. Installations and performances lined the streets of Toronto from sunset to sunrise, while thousands wandered the streets. USC hoped to get people who came out for Nuit Blanche to also come in to see their artwork on display and titled the USC event “Start Here.”

“People who are passing by can see what’s going on and it’s the perfect night to do it,” said Oksana Hawrylak who is in her fourth year at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) for printmaking and displayed some of her artwork as well as helped with the organization of “Start Here”. “It lets me do what I do, but still be involved in the Ukrainian community.”

While this was Toronto’s fourth Nuit Blanche, this was USC’s second year running such an event. While last year the theme was restricted to Ukrainian topics, this year the organizers opened it up and allowed Ukrainian-Canadian artists to display any pieces they wished.

“The whole point was to showcase Ukrainian Canadian artists,” said Christine Turenko, President of University of Toronto’s USC and organizer of the event. “[It] still shows Ukrainian art, but gives the artists the opportunity to show what they actually do.”

From a black and white picture of a man playing a sopilka to the vivid painting of a kozak, Ukrainian culture was still very present. However, other topics were explored as well - from a four piece painting depicting hurricanes looking as if they were right from the screen shots of the movie Twister, to a three dimensional word carved or made out of wood which read ‘TREES’. Many of the artists were students studying at OCAD, but many were also students who delve into the various mediums in their spare time.

 About 70 people came by throughout the night including Rachel Ramkaran, a 4^th Year Ryerson student who was out exploring Nuit Blanche with friends and came to see what “Start Here” was about.

“Everything I’ve seen so far is beautiful,” Ramkaran said, “Nuit Blanche in general is a great way in showcasing local artists and getting people who wouldn’t usually showcase their work [to] gain confidence and feedback.”