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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 2015 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 21 NEWS FROM UNWLA BRANCH 3 IN PHOENIX, AZ 2015 finds Ukraine still under threat from Russian forces, but Ukrainians struggle on in their homeland and in the Ukrainian diasporas. Worldwide moral, material, and financial support for Ukraine has been growing. I personally had the opportunity to witness some of that support: I attended a lecture given by President Dr. Vaira Vike-Greiberga of Latvia, who visited Phoenix in October of 2014. She is known for her vigorous defenses of liberty, equality, and social justice. She voiced support for Ukraine during her lecture and stressed the importance of the individual— not only the individual’s rights, but also his or her responsibility to nurture democracy. She called democracy “a delicate flower”: we dare not be- come complacent in our political freedoms. Her support of Ukraine was echoed by Robert A. McConnell, co-founder with his wife Nadia of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. He gave a speech at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Phoenix telling the audience, who was gathered for the presentations by observers of the May 2014 election in Ukraine, that we need to do more to help Ukraine. Ukrainians living in the USA, Canada, Ar- gentina, and wherever else they fled to over the last 124 years or more feel today a very strong re- sponsibility to do all they can to help Ukraine. Some countries’ governments are also helping by giving large sums of money and organizing train- ing for Ukrainian soldiers. I read that Japan do- nated 1.9 billion dollars to Ukraine! UNWLA Branch 3 in Phoenix is actively involved in donating money for humanitarian aid as well as basic survival items needed for war vic- tims. Our first meeting of the year, our Annual Meeting, had 15 members present. We gained 5 new members! I do not know the exact size of our community, but at our most recent event, the showing of the film Music of Survival by Orest Sushko, there were over 200 people present. Most people were from the Greater Phoenix area: many in the audience were Ukrainians whom we did not have in our registry yet, and still others were peo- ple of a different ethnic heritage who were inter- ested in Ukraine. After the film, members of the audience lingered for at least an hour to talk with each other and to meet with the director of the film and with others associated with the coordina- tion of this momentous event. The film included newsreel footage from wartime scenes in Kharkhiv and Kyiv. Seeing the devastation of war and the people displaced from their hometowns was a moving experience shared by all who watched the film, eliciting many strong emotions. It was a fantastic film, breathtaking in its breadth and rich in the music of the bandura . The event was such a success largely due to the efforts of Mark von Hagen, Professor of History at Arizona State University (formerly of Columbia University), past President of the Inter- national Association for Ukrainian Studies, expert on Ukraine from the 19th century to the present, and author of numerous books on Ukrainian and Russian history. It was Professor von Hagen’s idea to coordinate the showing of Orest Sushko’s film with Dr. Kathleen Wiens, Curator for Euro- pean exhibits at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). The MIM has a fantastic collection of mu- sical instruments from all over the world, and on viewing the exhibit on Ukraine featuring the ban- dura and the history of the kobza -playing blind minstrels, Professor von Hagen had the idea to promote the long-awaited Music of Survival —the movie took eight years to make—about the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus during World War II. It took two more years of effort until this film was presented in the Phoenix area. There was a panel discussion the day be- fore the film showing, which gave the movie some context. Two women ethnomusicologists of Ukrainian heritage, Dr. Adriana Helbig from the University of Pittsburg and Dr. Maria Sonevytsky from Bard College, and Dr. Anna Holian of Arizona State University were panel participants. In particular, _______________________ Participants of the panel discussion about the film Music of Survival . L-R: MIM Curator Dr. Kathleen Wiens, Professor Adriana Helbig, Orest Sushko (film director), Dr. Maria Sone- vytsky, and Professor Mark von Hagen.
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