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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Concert at the Ilko Art Gallery

Saturday November 8 there was another benefit concert to raise money for the restoration of thatched roofs at the Museum of Folk Architecture. This concert was held at the Ilko Art Gallery, and featured the "Hych Orchestra".  Rather than walk, I took a taxi from Petefi Square. This turned out to be a good choice, as the Ilko Gallery is at the top of a very long, steep hill.

Art on display:











I wasn't very excited about seeing the HYCH Orchestra; I had seen some of their YouTube videos. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Lemko Bluegrass Band would also be playing. 








Friday, at the concert in the Cafe Under the Castle, I had met Hannah Bittner, an American who was teaching English at the "Life English" school. "Life English" is in the same building as "LT Language" school where I had been volunteering. Hannah was there with some of her adult students, Russian-speaking Ukrainians from Donbas. Even though they were Russian-speaking, they had no desire to live under Russian rule. 


Friday, November 7, 2014

Transcarpathian Museum of Regional Studies

Located in Uzhgorod Castle, the Museum of Regional studies has about 115,000 exhibits.


Castle walls




Ruins of the Castle Church



Statue



Here is good indication of height of castle walls. Top of wall is about equal in height to Church Tower




View from Bastion












Exhibits of Transcarpathian Plant and Animal Life








There was a display of wax figures, from the Last Supper to Stalin and Hitler. This figure was so realistic I had to check several times to make sure that it was not a live human actor.



Clock and watch exhibit


Hand embroidered Bishop garb



Place Rooms




Chappel


Musical instrument exhibits



There were a lot of exhibits I was not allowed to photograph, such as the collection of old Bibles and Icons, because it was thought that light from the flash would damage them. There were other exhibits though, such as old arms and armor, I also was not allowed to photo, but I don't know how light from a flash would have damaged them.

The most interesting exhibit was a display of regional folk costume. Some of these were well over 100 years old. The exhibit showed the distinctive styles from village to village. 

Below, from Keretski village, Svalyavski Region


Also from Keretski


From Lipcha, Chust region


From Lisna, Irshava region


From Tereblya, Tyachiv region


From Lipetska Volyana, Chust region


From Synavvir, Mizhgiria region


Yasynya, Rakhiv region


Rakhiv region


Uzhok, Velikoberezny region


Izki, Mizhgiria region


Perechyn region


Sorry, I missed the village for the dresses below!


Examples of regional pottery



The last room I visited was the wine tasting room, where I sampled a variety of local wines - white, red, and "Troiyanda", a strong liquor made from roses.