Kule Folklore Centre at the U of A

05/30/2026

It's the final day of UFest and we're waiting to see you at the Kule tent!

05/29/2026

Kule is at UFest Edmonton Ukrainian Festival again this year. Make sure to check out the Kule things on display!

Фестиваль уже завтра! 🎉 See you this weekend!

05/21/2026

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Canadoon: A Ukrainian Canadian Journal of Humour
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Iakiv Maidanyk
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺: Shtif Tabachniuk
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: Winnipeg
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Monthly; 28 cm
𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲: Ukrainian, English

Ukrainian Canadian humour isn’t just about laughs—it’s a powerful way that communities used, complementing other established social and folkloric practices, to preserve identity, language, and culture across generations (1910s–1980s).
From witty satire to bittersweet irony, humour reflected everyday immigrant experiences while adapting to life in Canada. Sharp, emotional, and self-aware—yet never cruel—it remains a lasting expression of Ukrainians’ resilience and cultural pride.

05/15/2026

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Визначне жіноцтво України : історичні життєписи у чотирьох частинах (The Famous Women of Ukraine: Historical Biographies)
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Alexander Luhowy
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿: Toronto, Ukrainian Publishing Company, 1942
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 251 pages ; 21 cm
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁: Part 1. Women of the princely and state era Part 2. Women of Cossack Ukraine Part 3. Women writers and artists Part 4. Cultural, public and national figures
𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲: Ukrainian

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴 is a fascinating and revealing collection of biographical portraits celebrating outstanding Ukrainian women.

Spanning centuries of history, the book highlights their achievements, resilience, and contributions to culture, society, and national life in Ukraine and far beyond its borders—bringing forward stories that continue to inspire today.

05/14/2026

Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Alberta Branch invites you, your family, friends, and colleagues to attend our new exhibit, “Repression, Resistance and Nationhood: Ukrainian Nation-Building – A Historical Representation”. The exhibit opens Friday May 22nd at 7 pm and continues Saturday May 23rd and Sunday May 24th in St. John’s Cultural Centre. Please see the attached poster.

The exhibit showcases milestones in Ukrainian history including the founding of Kyiv, Kyivan Rus, the Halych-Volyn Principality and Kingdom, the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate, the 1917-21 Ukrainian War of Independence, Independent Ukraine and its people’s courageous fight against the Kremlin’s current military invasion of Ukraine.

The entire opening weekend also includes the travelling exhibit “'...And They Will Rise in Glory and Power': Destroyed Temples of Ukraine" courtesy of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

Most of the exhibit’s displays will continue to be viewable in the museum gallery from May 25th until late December 2026 and in the foyer of St. John's Cultural Centre until mid-November 2026.

While many artifacts are on loan from various museum collections, over 100 artifacts were generously lent by Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare. In addition to those artifacts from Ukrainian Museum of Canada (Alberta Branch), others are borrowed from the Ukrainian Women’s Organization of Canada, Peter and Doris Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore (Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives), UCWLC Edmonton Eparchy Museum, Ukrainian National Federation, and Vadym Obertas.

05/11/2026

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘐𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿: Kyiv: Ivan Honchar Museum National Centre of Folk Culture; Gunia Project, 2024
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 327 p.: ill. (some colour), maps, facsimiles; 34 cm
𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲:Ukrainian, English, and French parallel texts

Prior to the April 10, 2026, Annual Bohdan Medwidsky Memorial Lecture, the Kule Folklore Centre was honoured to be gifted a copy of "𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴"—a historical-ethnographic art album by Ivan Honchar, featuring a foreword by Dr. Maryna Hrymych.

The renowned Ukrainian ethnographer and folklorist Ivan Honchar began this monumental project in 1970, documenting the cultural identity of Ukrainian towns and villages. Over two decades, he produced 18 volumes of research output, illustrating traditional clothing, architecture, crafts, and landscapes.

At a time when preserving cultural heritage is more vital than ever, we are grateful to preserve this significant work in the Bohdan Medwidsky Folklore Archive.

📖 The album is also available for purchase through the Gunia Project: https://guniaproject.com/products/kniga-ukraina-ta-ukraintsi

05/09/2026

From April 30 to May 3, a number of KuFC staff and graduate students took part in the “Prairie Conference 2026: Ukrainian Studies in Times of Global Transformations of the Humanities,” organized by Dr. Oksana Dudko and Dr. Yuliya Yurchuk at the University of Manitoba.

A variety of panels and round tables covered important topics such as war ecologies and environmental futures, heritage preservation, famines, resistance movements, Ukrainian-Indigenous relationships, and Crimean Tatar history, as well as meta discussions about the growing field of Ukrainian studies. The participants created a productive space that propelled constructive and genuine discussions and helped to further understandings about current issues in Ukrainian studies and possible future goals.

Anna Olenenko, a PhD Candidate at the KuFC, took part in the panel “𝘡𝘦𝘮𝘭𝘪𝘢: Violence, Recovery, and Environmental Futures.” Her talk explored current research on Ukraine’s environment in the humanities, arguing there is a place for the environment and the non-human world within Ukrainian studies and the broader fields of environmental history and environmental humanities. She also examined how the Russo-Ukrainian war and its environmental impact have reshaped this field.

Two graduate students at the KuFC, Jonathan Grossman (MA) and Illia Pokotylo (PhD), together with Dr. Hanna Abakunova, Dr. Huseyin Oylupinar, Aolani Eslava-Jones, and Cody Mackoway, participated in the Alberta Round Table “Reconsidering Field, Structure, and Knowledge in Ukrainian Studies,” co-organized and moderated by Nolan Orvold. The students had the opportunity to share their experiences taking classes and conducting research on Ukrainian topics at the University of Alberta, as well as their thoughts on potential improvements to the university curriculum that would ensure greater success in Ukrainian studies among post-secondary students.

The KuFC is grateful to the Prairie Conference organizers and participants for creating a welcoming and intellectually engaging space for discussion and collaboration!

Image 1 (left to right): Dr. Huseyin Oylupinar, Aolani Eslava-Jones, Nolan Orvald, Jonathan Grossman, Illia Pokotylo, Dr. Hanna Abakunova

05/01/2026

Have you seen the April edition of 𝘒𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴, where we share upcoming events, stories, and news to keep you connected and inspired?

Not subscribed to the mailing list? Subscribe here: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/ECCBE93F1188AEDE

Read the current and previous editions here:
https://www.ualberta.ca/en/kule-folklore-centre/news-and-events/newsletter-archive.html

05/01/2026

Dr. Oleksandr Pankieiev, Director of the Kule Folklore Centre and Associate Professor and Kule Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta, was in Buenos Aires presenting at the “International Conference on Information Manipulation and Foreign Interference (FIMI)”, held on April 15. The conference was organized by the embassies of Germany, Canada, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union in Argentina.

On the margins of the conference, Dr. Pankieiev participated in several additional events. Notably, alongside Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, he delivered presentations and engaged in discussions with students from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. This event was hosted at the Embassy of Canada to Argentina. He also held meetings with key institutions, including the Argentine Council for International Relations and Chequeado, a leading Argentine fact-checking organization.

In his presentations, Dr. Pankieiev emphasized that propaganda should be understood and treated as a “weapon of mass distraction.” While its effects can be difficult to quantify, its consequences are significant—distorting public discourse, shaping public opinion, and leading to real human costs.

He argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is, in part, the result of propaganda which went largely unchallenged for decades, both within Russia and internationally. He also highlighted that academia is not immune to propaganda either. Scholars and institutions have been targets of propaganda, and at times they have, both unintentionally and intentionally, contributed to its dissemination. He also emphasized the importance of decolonizing the field and pointed out that in Latin American countries, Russian propaganda has sought to hijack the decolonial narrative, presenting itself as a decolonial power.

Pankieiev’s presentations drew heavily on the 2025 edited volume 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘰-𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘳: 𝘈 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵, for which he selected essays and interviews with scholars and experts who analyze the war from multiple perspectives. The book’s Spanish edition, 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘴 𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢: 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦́𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰́𝘯 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘢 𝘜𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢, received formal recognition from the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for its contribution to the field of social communication.

During his visit, Dr. Pankieiev was interviewed by Andrea Bonzo for Infobae, sharing insights from his research. In the interview, titled “The ethnographer studying how Ukraine won the meme war against Russia: ‘Propaganda is boring,’” Dr. Pankieiev underscored the importance of community-engaged scholarship and ethnography as key strategies for addressing propaganda. Through creative practices and storytelling that are more engaging and diverse than malign propaganda narratives, communities can limit the spread of such narratives and remedy their harms.

Photo 1: From left to right: Jonathan Sauvé, Embassy of Canada; Oleksandr Pankieiev, University of Alberta; Jean-Christophe Boucher, University of Calgary; Stewart Wheeler, Ambassador of Canada to the Argentine Republic.

05/01/2026

Dr. Oleksandr Pankieiev, Director of the Kule Folklore Centre and Associate Professor and Kule Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta, was in Buenos Aires presenting at the “International Conference on Information Manipulation and Foreign Interference (FIMI)”, held on April 15. The conference was organized by the embassies of Germany, Canada, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union in Argentina.

On the margins of the conference, Dr. Pankieiev participated in several additional events. Notably, alongside Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary, he delivered presentations and engaged in discussions with students from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. This event was hosted at the Embassy of Canada to Argentina. He also held meetings with key institutions, including the Argentine Council for International Relations and Chequeado, a leading Argentine fact-checking organization.

In his presentations, Dr. Pankieiev emphasized that propaganda should be understood and treated as a “weapon of mass distraction.” While its effects can be difficult to quantify, its consequences are significant—distorting public discourse, shaping public opinion, and leading to real human costs.

He argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is, in part, the result of propaganda which went largely unchallenged for decades, both within Russia and internationally. He also highlighted that academia is not immune to propaganda either. Scholars and institutions have been targets of propaganda, and at times they have, both unintentionally and intentionally, contributed to its dissemination. He also emphasized the importance of decolonizing the field and pointed out that in Latin American countries, Russian propaganda has sought to hijack the decolonial narrative, presenting itself as a decolonial power.

Pankieiev’s presentations drew heavily on the 2025 edited volume Narratives of the Russo-Ukrainian War: A Look Within and Without, for which he selected essays and interviews with scholars and experts who analyze the war from multiple perspectives. The book’s Spanish edition, Ecos de Guerra: Perspectivas Académicas sobre la Invasión Rusa a Ucrania, received formal recognition from the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for its contribution to the field of social communication.

During his visit, Dr. Pankieiev was interviewed by Andrea Bonzo for Infobae, sharing insights from his research. In the interview, titled “The ethnographer studying how Ukraine won the meme war against Russia: ‘Propaganda is boring,’” (https://www.infobae.com/america/mundo/2026/04/19/el-etnografo-que-estudia-como-ucrania-le-gano-a-rusia-la-guerra-de-los-memes-la-propaganda-es-aburrida/), Dr. Pankieiev underscored the importance of community-engaged scholarship and ethnography as key strategies for addressing propaganda. Through creative practices and storytelling that are more engaging and diverse than malign propaganda narratives, communities can limit the spread of such narratives and remedy their harms.

Photo 1: From left to right: Jonathan Sauvé, Embassy of Canada; Jean-Christophe Boucher, University of Calgary; Oleksandr Pankieiev, University of Alberta; Stewart Wheeler, Ambassador of Canada to the Argentine Republic.