The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 4 (190), 1023—1033
UDK 72/76.071.1(=161.2)(100)”19″(092)
DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2026.04.1023
- Received: 12.08.2026
- Accepted: 19.08.2026
- Published: 23.09.2026
THE FATES OF UKRAINIAN DIASPORA ARTISTS: EPISODES FROM PERSONAL CONTACTS IN THE 1990-s
YATSIV Roman
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1509-5367
- PhD, professor at the Artwood department
- of the Lviv National Academy of Arts,
- 38, V. Kubiyovycha str., 79011, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: jaciv@ukr.net
Abstract. The article examines the history of the author’s creative and scholarly relationships with personalities from the Ukrainian diaspora — relationships that, spanning the period from the 1990s to 2025, evolved into numerous research projects and found expression in various formats, including monographs, art albums, scholarly articles, essays, and text anthologies. These personalities include prominent artists, writers, scholars, and socio-cultural activists — bearers of the cultural memory of the Ukrainian community abroad — with whom the author interacted personally or maintained contacts through correspondence. In certain instances, active and trusting relationships were marked by heartfelt events in the personal and family lives of prominent diaspora figures from the creative and intellectual spheres. The publication draws upon epistolary materials introduced into scholarly discourse for the first time.
The object of the study comprises the documented facts regarding the establishment and stages of the author’s professional contacts with various representatives of the scholarly and creative elite within the Ukrainian diaspora across the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Poland; the subject of the study is the history, chronology, and content of this ongoing communication, which influenced the realization of significant exhibition and publishing projects, as well as the search for ways to popularize — within Ukrainian society — personalities who were previously less known.
The methodological basis of the study comprises creative-biographical, scholarly-reconstructive, and source-study methods, as well as a historical-cultural approach to evaluating the creative and scholarly contributions of intellectuals from the Ukrainian diaspora.
Keywords: visual art of the Ukrainian diaspora, artistic modernism, postmodernism, ethno-national identity, cultural memory, ethnopsychology, scholarly periodicals, specialized art publications, Ukrainian artistic and academic communities in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Poland.
REFERENCES
- Yatsiv, R. (2010). Liubomyr Roman Kuzma (1913—2004): Painting and Publicistic Legacy. Lviv: Liha-Pres [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2015). Robert Lisovskyi (1893—1982): The Spirit of the Line / A Word About Father — Zoia Lisovska-Nyzhankivska; Lviv National Academy of Arts. Lviv: Apriori [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2018). Zoia Lisovska: Sources of Passion: Painting, Graphic Art. Foreword by Z. Lisovska; article by V. Vovk. Lviv: Apriori [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2013). Olenka Herdan-Zaklynska. Life and Work: A Biographical Sketch. Lviv: Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Lviv National Academy of Arts [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2015). Olenka Herdan-Zaklynska (1916—1999): A Life in Art: Materials for the History of 20th-Century Ukrainian Art. Lviv: Rastr-7 [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2014). Halyna Myroshnychenko-Kuzma. Life and Work: A Biographical Sketch. Introductory remarks by A. Humetska, M. Myroshnychenko. Lviv: Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Lviv National Academy of Arts [in Ukrainian].
- (2023). Petro Andrusiv (1906—1981): Artistic Legacy, Publications, Archival and Reference Materials. Compiled by Roman and Andrii Yatsiv. Lviv: Shevchenko Scientific Society; Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2021). A Concise Chronology of Art Events and Memorable Dates of the 20th Century: Ukraine — The World: A Local-Individual Research Perspective: A Reference Book. Lviv National Academy of Arts; Shevchenko Scientific Society. Lviv: Apriori Publishing House [in Ukrainian].
- (2012—2021) Ideas, Meanings, and Interpretations of Visual Art. Ukrainian Theoretical Thought of the 20th Century: An Anthology. Compiled by R. M. Yatsiv. Lviv: Lviv National Academy of Arts; Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Prostir-M [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (2006). Ukrainian Art of the 20th Century: Ideas, Phenomena, Personalities: A Collection of Articles. Foreword by S. Pavliuk. Lviv: Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
- (2013). Ukrainian Visual Art: Names, Biographies, Works (11th—21st Centuries). Authors: I. Holod, N. Kozak, Ya. Kravchenko, O. Mykhailiuk, R. Yatsiv. Kharkiv: Fakt [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (1990, August 4). Meet Tyrs Venhrynovych. Za Vilnu Ukrainu [in Ukrainian].
- Yatsiv, R. (1989). «I Fear Only One Thing: Falling into Cliches». Zhovten, 2, 124—125 [in Ukrainian].
- (1990). Edward Kozak. Exhibition Catalogue. Exhibition compilers: V. Otkovych, R. Yatsiv; catalogue author-compiler: R. Yatsiv. Lviv [in Ukrainian].
- (1993). Robert Lisovskyi (1893—1982): Catalogue of the Exhibition of Works Dedicated to the Artist’s Centenary. Author-compiler: R. Yatsiv. Lviv, Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
