The Kule Folklore Centre is pleased to announce our upcoming events for Fall 2026 Term.
All are welcome; please find details below.
Upcoming Events
September
Workshop with Maryna Salagub: "Opishnia Ceramics in Watercolour"
Join us for a hands-on painting workshop inspired by Ukrainian cultural heritage, led by Maryna Salagub—a Ukrainian-Canadian watercolour artist, illustrator, and art educator.
Friday, September 18 • 12 PM - 2 PM MT
Henderson Hall, Rutherford Library South 1-17, University of Alberta
Price: $10 per person
Participants will discover Opishnia ceramics, one of Ukraine’s distinctive folk art traditions, through examples from the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives. Inspired by Maryna’s residency research, they will explore traditional animal forms, earthy colours, and decorative motifs. Through step-by-step watercolour guidance, participants will create their own painting, inspired by an archival Opishnia ceramic figure.
Read more and register here
Past Events
September
Ukrainian witchcraft trials in the 17th–18th centuries
Folklore Lecture by: Kateryna Dysa – PhD and Associate Professor in the History Department of the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy"
September 19, 2025 | 10 a.m. MT
Were there really witchcraft trials in 17th- and 18th-century Ukraine? What kinds of legal systems and religious factors enabled them? How did witchcraft accusations occur, and what was the typical social and gender standing of accusers and accused? Which issues generated the conflicts that led to such accusations? These questions and more will be addressed by Professor Dysa during her lunchtime talk.
ZOOM (Online-only presentation)
October
It Takes Three To Tango
A conversation with: Natalka Husar, internationally acclaimed Canadian artist
October 3, 2025 | 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. MT | Art Gallery of Alberta, 2 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, AB T5J 2C1
Join us on the special evening of October 3rd for a conversation with Natalka Husar for "IT TAKES THREE TO TANGO: The true story of a fictitious romance in the correspondence of Ivan Ostafiichuk and Natalka Husar." Meet Natalka Husar, an internationally acclaimed Canadian artist, and hear the story in person. Learn the perspective of scholars who study Ukraine and KGB surveillance. Read the newly published book containing Ivan’s letters.
(In-person presentation)
Watch on Youtube
International Perogy Day
Workshop by: Joyce Sirski-Howell
October 8, 2025 | 2pm to 4:30pm MT | St. Joseph's College, Newman Centre, U of A
Price: $10+GST per person; all equipment for perogy making will be provided
What is a better way to celebrate International Perogy Day? Join us for a perogy-making workshop led by our beloved Joyce Sirski-Howell!
(In-person workshop)
Watch the Recap Here
Heritage on the Table: Food and Ukrainian Identity
Folklore Lecture by: Yevhen Klopotenko – a Ukrainian chef, restaurateur and social activist.
October 17, 2025 | 10 a.m. MT | ZOOM (Online-only presentation)
Food isn’t just about eating. It’s about who we are. Borshch, beet kvass, shpundra or teteria — each dish tells more about Ukraine than any textbook. Food is our language, our song, our identity. And as long as we keep it close, we know exactly who we are.
ZOOM (Online-only presentation)
Watch on Youtube
November
A photographic Prairie trilogy: collective Identity, personal memory and arriving at the Ukrainian-Canadian Homeplace
Folklore Lecture by: Kyler Zeleny – Phd, photographer, educator, and author
November 7, 2025 | 6 p.m. MT | Kaffa Roastery & Studio, 10920 88 Ave NW, Edmonton AB
Photographer, educator, and writer Kyler Zeleny traces a decade-long exploration of the Canadian Prairies through his trilogy—Out West (2014), Crown Ditch & The Prairie Castle (2020), and the culminating Bury Me in the Back Forty (2025). Centering on his hometown of Mundare, Alberta—a Ukrainian-settler community in transition—the talk considers how photographs and interwoven texts can honor complexity without nostalgia or caricature on the Canadian Prairies.
With a special focus on Bury Me in the Back Forty, Zeleny foregrounds themes of deviance and conformity, joy and tragedy, and the ethics of representing one’s own “homeplace.” He reflects on how Ukrainian prairie identities are negotiated across generations—what is carried forward, what is let go—and how belonging is inscribed in everyday life and landscape. Drawing from stories behind specific images and sequences across all three books, Zeleny offers a nuanced view of contemporary prairie life and the small-town futures being imagined in real time.
(In person lecture)
Watch on Youtube
December
Ukrainian Winter Celebrations: Who Brings Presents to Ukrainian Children?
Folklore Lecture by: Daria Antsybor, Research fellow at the State Scientific Center for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Against Man-Made Disasters in Kyiv, Ukraine.
December 12, 2025 | 10 a.m. MT | ZOOM (Online-only presentation)
This lecture will explore the transformation of winter holiday traditions in Ukraine. It will trace the roles of magical gift-givers such as St. Nicholas (Mykolai) and Grandfather Frost (Did Moroz), examining their origins, the impact of the Soviet era, and their use as political symbols. In the context of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the talk will also reflect on how Ukrainian society is re-evaluating these figures in its pursuit of cultural decolonization and authentic expression.
ZOOM (Online-only presentation)
Watch on Youtube
Christmas Carol Sing-a-long
Workshop by: Olga Zaitseva-Herz
December 13, 2025 | 1-3 p.m. MT | Strathcona Community League Hall, 10139 87 Avenue NW Edmonton, AB
A family-friendly sing-a-long event led by Olga Zaitseva-Herz. Come join us for this festive event and sing-along to popular Ukrainian Christmas Carols.
Ukrainian-Canadian pastries will be served.
(In-person workshop)
RSVP by December 9th
January
Music & Comics: exploring a music-based graphic narrative
Folklore Lecture by: Illia Pokotylo, MA, Media and Cultural Studies, MLCS
January 23, 2026 | 12 p.m. MT | In person presentation
How does music influence image and story? In this lecture-recital, Illia Pokotylo will present Borys Liatoshynsky: A Life in Reflections (2025) — a graphic narrative about the Ukrainian composer that he co-created with visual artist Ihor Tvoronovych. The talk will explore how musical ideas can be reimagined through the visual language of comics, using A Life in Reflections as a central example. The presentation will conclude with a live performance of excerpts from Liatoshynsky’s piano cycle “Reflections,” which served as a foundational music piece for the creation of the graphic narrative.
Watch on Youtube
March
When Songs Go to War | Pop Music, Propaganda, and Digital Soft Power in Russia’s War on Ukraine
Folklore Lecture presented by Dr. Olga Zaitseva-Herz
Friday, March 20 | 12 p.m. (Edmonton time) | In Person (registration required)
This talk will examine the role of popular music as a tool of propaganda and soft power during Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Moving beyond the idea of music as mere cultural background, Dr. Zaitseva-Herz will argue that songs function as active agents in contemporary information warfare, shaping emotions, legitimizing violence, mobilizing audiences, and normalizing political narratives.
This event is free of charge. Registration is required.
Register here
Ukraine: War and Resistance
Exhibition of American and Ukrainian Photographers
(February 20 – March 20)
Rutherford Library, South Foyer
Co-organized by the Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta
Ukraine: War and Resistance is a traveling photo exhibition initiated by Fulbright Ukraine and the Institute of International Education (IIE) Kyiv Office, in cooperation with partner institutions in Europe and North America. The exhibition brings together photographs by American and Ukrainian Fulbright alumni who have lived and worked in Ukraine for extended periods of time.
Read more here
Ukrainian People Are My People Too | An Indigenous Perspective on Relationality, War, and Reconciliation
In conversation with Dr. Niigaan Sinclair
Wednesday, March 18 | 6 p.m. (Edmonton time) | Online (Zoom)
As part of the Indigenous Ukrainian Relationship Initiative, we are honoured to welcome Dr. Niigaan Sinclair, Anishinaabe scholar from Peguis First Nation, award-winning writer, and Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba.
Together, we will explore themes of relationality, solidarity, war, and reconciliation and reflect on what it means to stand in relationship across communities in times of conflict and change.
This conversation is open to all. We invite students, scholars and community members to join us!
Register here
April
2026 Annual Bohdan Medwidsky Memorial Lecture
“Between Narratives of Mourning and Humour: Memory and Resilience in Ukraine, 2022–25”
Friday, April 10 | 3:30 p.m. (Edmonton time) | In Person (registration required)
Presenter: Dr. Maryna Hrymych
From the first day of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine faced challenges that required immediate working through. This need was largely realized through communication on social media. Amid the torrent of textual, photo, and video content, there emerged both “one-day” messages and private reflections, as well as posts that became, to varying degrees, folklorized and integrated into the collective narrative.
This event is free of charge. Registration is required.
Learn more
THE UKRAINIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN ALBERTA
CALGARY 10-12 APRIL 2026
EDMONTON 17-19 APRIL 2026
This year, the Ukrainian Film Festival in Alberta (UFFA) will showcase a selection of compelling contemporary films about Ukraine in both Edmonton and Calgary. These critically acclaimed films have received international recognition and won numerous awards.
Over two weekends, festival-goers will have the opportunity to experience some of the most outstanding works of contemporary Ukrainian cinema, highlighting powerful stories of resilience, identity, history, and cultural heritage.
Learn more