FOCUS ON PHILATELY

by Ingert Kuzych

Folk costumes issue crowned Ukraine's best

The wide variety of subjects depicted on Ukraine's 2002 stamps was reflected in the balloting for this year's Narbut Prize for best stamp design. Almost every one of last year's stamps or souvenir sheets appealed to someone and subsequently received some votes. However, as the August 15 deadline approached, it became clear that a winner would emerge from among three quite different issues.

In the end, the "Ukrainian Folk Costumes" release, which garnered 14 percent of the vote (Figure 1), edged out the "Military History of Ukraine" issue stamps featuring ancient Scythian warriors, 12 percent of the vote; Figure 2) and the "Kyiv Through Artist's Eyes" stamp set (stamps depicting cityscapes by Taras Shevchenko; 11 percent; Figure 3). Also receiving substantial support was Ukraine's first chess stamp commemorating Ruslan Ponomariov becoming the 16th World Chess Champion (8 percent), a new four-stamp set honoring Ukrainian space scientists (8 percent), and the latest three stamps of the ongoing "Hetmans of Ukraine" series (7 percent).

Once more this year, participants were able to submit their choices electronically. Just over 80 percent of the hundreds of participants were from Ukraine, while the rest were from North America.

The Narbut Prize continues to be recognized as the premier philatelic art award in Ukraine. Past winners of the prize have been depicted in Filatelia Ukrainy, Ukraine's leading philatelic periodical.

Readers wishing to examine all of last year's stamps (or the issues from any year) in full color, may do so online at the Ukrainian Electronic Stamp Album (www.ukrainianphilately.info). Click on 2002 or on any other year's issues you may wish to check out.

The winner and his designs

This year's winning artist is Mykola Kochubei, who will receive a certificate and a $250 honorarium for his colorful and fetching images highlighting regional costumes and holy days. The six designs of the set were released separately as stamps and together on a souvenir sheet. The first two stamps feature characters from the Vinnytsia region dressed for the holidays of Pokrova (Protection of the Mother of God) and Spas (The Savior). The former falls on October 1 and signals the beginning of the fall cycle of folk holidays. Weddings are frequently held following this festival. Spas falls on August 6 and marks the end of the harvest season. At this time a harvest wreath, grain, fruits and honey are traditionally blessed at the church. (See sidebar on page 16).

The next two designs show the traditional clothing of the Cherkasy region worn during the vernal songs (termed vesnianky or haivky) performed at Eastertime, as well as the summer feast of Makovii (Maccabeus, August 1), when women and girls have the last flowers of summer blessed in church. The final stamps depict Christmas and Easter in the Ternopil region.

The stamp images on the souvenir sheet version of this issue are identical to the regular stamp issues but, in addition, they are surrounded by a variety of embroidery motifs along the top and sides, and by a village scene across the bottom (Figure 1).

Souvenir sheets remain very popular philatelic items in Ukraine. This was the sixth year in a row that such a sheet - alone or in combination with stamps as this year - finished first in the competition.

This folk costume issue is the second created by Mr. Kochubei in as many years. His first set of six designs in 2001 ended up as runner-up in the Narbut Prize balloting for that year. Mr. Kochubei is scheduled to continue his folk costume series this year with six further stamps and a matching souvenir sheet.

A list of past winners

The Narbut Prize has been awarded annually since 1993 for the best-designed stamp of the previous year (Ukraine only resumed stamp production in 1992). Below are the winners of the Narbut Prize since its inception:

• 1993 - Larysa Koren, "150th Anniversary of the Birth of Mykola Lysenko"; and Oleh Snarsky, "National Flag and Trident Emblem of Ukraine" (Note: there was a tie in voting in 1993).
  
  
• 1994 - Yurii Lohvyn, "75th Anniversary of Ukraine's First Postage Stamps."
  
  
• 1995 - Serhii Bieliaiev, "160th Anniversary of Kyiv University."
  
  
• 1996 - Yurii Lohvyn, "Hetmans of Ukraine" series.
  
  
• 1997 - Serhii Bieliaiev, "150th Anniversary of the Kyiv University Astronomical Observatory" (stamp triptych).
  
  
• 1998 - V. Taran and O. Kharuk, "The Founding of Kyiv" (Europa souvenir sheet).
  
  
• 1999 - V. Taran, O. Kharuk, S. Kharuk and V. Kozachenko; "350th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Ukrainian Struggle for Freedom Under Bohdan Khmelnytsky" (souvenir sheet).
  
  
• 2000 - Oleksii Shtanko, "Yaroslav the Wise" (souvenir sheet).
  
  
• 2001 - Kateryna Shtanko, "Wild-flowers of Ukraine" (souvenir sheet).
  
  
• 2002 - Oleksii Shtanko, "Korol Danylo" (souvenir sheet).
  
  
• 2003 - Mykola Kochubei, "Ukrai-nian Folk Costumes" (stamps and souvenir sheet)

Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150 or at his e-mail address: ingert@starpower.net.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 7, 2003, No. 36, Vol. LXXI

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