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A Delight to Behold!
The new exhibit is ready for you to visit and explore...
"A Delight to Behold" displays specially selected items which were recently transferred to MUM Saskatoon from the Toronto Eparchial UCWLC Collection.
Throughout this exhibit of a diverse range of artifacts, including textiles, ceramics, handcrafts, tradional clothing and headpieces, you will find brief descriptions about articles on display as well as information about some of the artists.
This collection offers a fresh perspective on traditional craftsmanship and cultural expression, inviting you to explore both the aesthetic and historical significance of each artifact. These artifacts highlight the richness and breadth of Ukrainian cultural heritage, from intricately detailed women's regalia to linoleum printing blocks.
A brief history of the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada Museum of the Eparchy of Toronto and their collection.... The Museum originated with the desire to preserve Ukrainian culture for future generations outside their homeland and went through great efforts to organize. A festive opening of the ethnographic museum was held on November 13, 1966 in the Eparchial building on Bathurst Street; on June 15, 1967 the Museum was opened to the community of Toronto.
In 2016, the KUMF (Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation) building on Bloor Street, where the Museum had moved to in 1999, was slated for demolition. A Canada-wide search for a suitable institution with the will and resources to preserve their collection was conducted. MUM was blessed to be selected as the new permanent location of their collection of over 900 artifacts. Their collection is in knowledgeable hands, with a safe future ahead of it!
This exhibit was presented to the participants of the UCWLC Congress who visited the Museum on Friday, October 3, 2025. Present was Nadya Stasyna (shown in the photo above, wearing the dark shawl) who was the curator under the direction of the UCWLC when their Museum closed in 2016.
On Sunday, November 23rd, 2025, at 1:30 pm. we opened the exhibit to our local community.
Board President, Anna Mycyk, welcomed visitors with the following: Welcome to Musée Ukraina Museum. Today we open the Feature Gallery Exhibit with selections from the Toronto and Eastern Canada Eparchial Museum Collection; it was indeed a Delight to Behold as we unpacked these wonderful artifacts.
Established in 1963, the Toronto Eparchial Museum had a long history of preserving Ukrainian culture and heritage in our Canadian community. We are grateful to the many volunteers, donors and curators for preserving these unique cultural artifacts. In turn, I thank our Museum Board of Directors members and volunteers Sylvia Baran, Diane Boyko, Martin Hryniuk, Debbie Nahachewsky and Marcella Zerebecky for their help in curating and presenting this beautiful exhibit.
I further acknowledge and am grateful for the tireless dedication of Nadia Stasyna who curated the Toronto museum in its last 22 years of existence and made the difficult decision and commitment to finding a new and sustainable home for this collection here in our museum.
In 2018 this valuable and lovingly curated collection was transferred to Musée Ukraina Museum.
This collection offers a unique opportunity for us to see the artifacts that were available and collected as representing the value the local community placed on preserving this heritage. At the time, the Toronto Ukrainian community was largely comprised of the third wave of immigrants to Canada after the second world war.
Whether in Toronto, Saskatoon, New York, Chicago, Lviv or Kyiv, we, the Ukrainian museum communities in common remain indebted to our past, we are vigilant in our present, and we are accountable to the future.
The first accessioned items in this collection consisted of a complete woman's regalia, dated 1898, from Horodenka, in the Ivano Frankivsk region/oblast in Ukraine. Six regions of Ukraine are represented in this circle of women's regalia exhibited in the center of the room. Each outfit was intricately created with meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Notable artists represented in this exhibit include:Yaroslava Turko, creator of the Olha and Volodymyr dolls made for the millennium of Christianity in Ukraine; Iryna Tverdokhlib from Rochester, artist and teacher of linocut printing on fabric; As well as ceramic artists: Irena Shumska-Moroz, Aka Pereyma and, Pavlyna Tsvilyk of Kosiv Ukraine.
The embroidered rushnyk is considered a ritual cloth that is ever present at significant moments in Ukrainian lives; during baptism, marriage ceremonies, feast day celebrations, and greeting of guests.
Please note the rushnyky hanging overhead. They are a symbolic protection for our culture and our heritage. The full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sparked an immediate call to close the skies, закрити небо, over Ukraine as the country and people were being attacked by land, sea and air. We also humbly pray to the Покрова, The Protectoress, for her intercession on our behalf.
* * * * Be sure to pick up a handout which provides some tidbits about traditions and history of the exhibit.
In addition to this feature exhibit there are lots of artifacts in the other Galleries of the Museum. Visit soon!
Open Sundays 11:30 am to 3:30 pm and by special arrangement.
Next page: Upcoming Special Meeting on revised Bylaws