Craft's Collections Museum in Kyiv

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Ivan Gonchar Museum, National Center of Folk Culture, Lavrska vul. 19, Kiev 01015 Ukraine

The craft’s museum in the Lavra has some exhibits from XVII and XVIII centuries and a lot of exhibits dating back to late XIX and XX centuries. Ivan Gonchar’s collection is made of items obtained mostly in 1950-1980-ies. It has many village-style icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, St. Barbara and other popular saints. Other objects of folk art are pictures depicting Cossack Mamaiwith his pistol, sable, flask of vodka and horse and pictures from Soviet time.

The latter are either full of village humor-depicting, mothers chasing boy-friend of her daughter with a stick to beat him or present in a naïve way the ideal village life with a pond and swans swimming in it. It is interesting to observe how those pictures were copied all over Ukraine as nearby every family wanted to have it at home.

The buildings housing both crafts museums are equally interesting themselves. I.Gonchar’s museum is located in over 200-year old governor’s residence. Lavra’s museum is in the Metropolitan’s house and its Annunciation church. Some exhibits are upstairs in the choir-gallery such as pictures by peasant artists Maria Primachenko and Catherine Bilokur. Primachenko liked to depict crocodiles, lions and the like her own primitive and colourful style. The floral motives in pictures by Bilokur show, for instance, Ukrainian nature recovering from war-time wounds in late 1940-ies.

In the church of Annunciation the carpet occupy the place of the icon stands. Same room there is Soviet propaganda porcelain with its revolutionary slogans, like “He who does not work, does not eat either” or “All power belongs to Soviets”. Other interesting exhibits are bear-shape bottles and lion-shape vessels designed and made as wedding or birthday gifts.

Duration: 3 hours