Commemorations of 9/11 held at The Ukrainian Museum (09/29/02)

Commemorations of 9/11 held at The Ukrainian Museum

by Marta Baczynsky

NEW YORK - The exhibition "September 11th, 2001 in the Ukrainian Press" currently on view at The Ukrainian Museum has been extended through November 8.

The aim of the exhibition is twofold: to mark the first anniversary of the horrific and painful events of September 11, 2001; and to reaffirm America's freedoms, which have sustained its people through the recovery and rebuilding process during the past year.

The American Association of Museums and the Institute of Museum and Library Services proposed this project. As stewards of the nation's stories and centers of community life, museums were invited to organize programs, exhibits and activities that would both commemorate the tragedy and highlight the richness of the American experience. Thus, The Ukrainian Museum joined other museums throughout the country in a nationwide effort titled "Museum's Celebrate America's Freedoms: A Day of Remembrance."

Utilizing news articles, editorials and photographs from the pages of the Ukrainian American press, The Ukrainian Museum has organized an exhibition that presents historical record of the day of the events of September 11, 2001, and its aftermath. Included are several Ukrainian- and English-language newspapers, periodicals, magazines and the Ukrainian Internet news site Brama that serve the Ukrainian American community in the United States and Canada. Among the represented publications are: America, Lemkivschyna, Narodna Volya, National Tribune, The New Pathway (Toronto), Our Life, Our Voice, The Patriarchate, Sower, Svoboda, Ukrainian Orthodox Word and The Ukrainian Weekly, among others.

Photographs depicting the devastation following the terrorist attack in New York City and the community response in the terrible aftermath support the exhibition. The photos were provided by Marta Baczynsky, Stefania Charczenko, Hanya Krill, Vasyl Lopukh and Andrew Rakowsky. A continually running slide show, organized by Hanya Krill from BRAMA.com-Gateway Ukraine, is included in the exhibition.

The Ukrainian Museum remembered and honored the victims of the terrorist attacks, especially two Ukrainians - Oleh Wengerchuk, who worked as an engineer for Washington Group International in the World Trade Center, and John Skala, who served with the Port Authority Police. Officer Skala was one of the first to respond to the emergency call during those first fateful hours following the attacks and lost his life in the line of duty. Ms. Krill of BRAMA conducted interviews with the families of both men, and the tape of their conversations is part of the museum's exhibition.

Small pieces and mementos, from the destroyed World Trade Center Towers - a fragment of marble, of glass, a steel pin and an inspirational saying by the great football coach Vince Lombardi, enclosed in a seemingly indestructable plastic case, are displayed in the museum and are part of the exhibit. These are on loan from Mr. Rakowsky, senior special agent, U.S. Customs DEA Task Force, who worked in the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero and in Fresh Kills, Staten Island, for several months. Mr. Rakowsky also loaned the museum a video that he personally made at the scene of devastation of the World Trade Center two days after the terrorist attacks.

The exhibition was organized with the generous financial sponsorship of: Dr. Roman and Anna Alyskewycz, Jaroslaw and Katria Czerwoniak, Paul and Maria Czerwoniak, Andrey Hankevych, Maria Tershakovec and Roman Hawrylak, Myron and Olha Hnateyko, Prof. Taras and Olga Hunczak, Irene C. Ochrymovych, Wasyl Sosiak, Dr. Ihor and Olenka Terleckyj, Dr. Andrew and Tatiana Tershakovec, Tamara Tershakovec, Jaroslaw and Maria Tomorug, and Walter and Katerina Wolowodiuk.

In addition to the exhibit, on September 15, the museum presented a special event for the community titled "Let Freedom Ring." The program consisted of the HBO documentary film "In Memoriam: New York City 9-11-01" which brought back very strongly the plethora of emotions and feelings that ruled in the days after the attacks. The program also featured the reading of poetry in both the Ukrainian and the English languages, performed by members of the Lidia Krushelnytsky Drama Studio: Adrian Berezovsky, Adam Hapij, Larisa Huryn, Ivan Kinal, Volodymyr Kurylo, Natalia Lysecky, Olenka Lysecky and Ivan Bernadskyj, an actor from the Maria Zankovetska Theater in Lviv.

The poems chosen for the performance - such as the "43rd Psalm" of Taras Shevchenko, "Contra Spem Spero" by Lesia Ukrainka, "The Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling, "Ode Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746" by William Collins and an excerpt from the presentation "The Year 2000" by Bohdan Boychuk - were powerful in their message of hope and courage, and of triumph over adversity through the strength of the human spirit.

Museums have changed dramatically in the last few decades. From somber, silent, scholarly sanctuaries, they have become the chroniclers not only of the past but monitors of the present. The events of 9/11 are very much a part of our daily lives today and will be for a very long time. The exhibition at the museum brought into focus the graphics of the events, but the idea of the exhibit and the accompanying program crystallized our emotional and rational response to this terrible wound inflicted upon us.

The exhibit is open to visitors Wednesday through Sunday, 1-5 p.m. with the exception of September 28 and 29).

For further information contact: The Ukrainian Museum, 203 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003; telephone, (212) 228-0110; e-mail, info@ukrainianmuseum.org; website, www.ukrainianmuseum.org.

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