On March 23, 2015, Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky, Director of the Kule Folklore Centre, Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography, and Curator of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, MLCS, became an inductee into the University of Alberta Museums' Curator Hall of Fame.
At the 2015 Museums Celebration ceremony held at the U of A Museums Enterprise Square Galleries, Dr. Nahachewsky joined one other recipients - Pamela Mayne Correia, Curator, Fossil Hominid, Osteology, and Bryan/Gruhn Ethnography Collections , Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts - to receive this prestigious Curator honour. Chancellor Ralph Young and Janine Andrews, Executive Director, University of Alberta Museums, presided over this event and a permanent plaque to each new award winner was unveiled to join past Curator recipients. This Hall of Fame can be viewed at the Enterprise Square Galleries.
Dr. Nahachewsky, Curator, along with Maryna Chernyavska, Archivist, preside over the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives (BMUFA). It is the largest repository of Ukrainian and Canadian-Ukrainian folklore materials in North America. Its mandate is to document, preserve and study Ukrainian folklore in Ukraine, Canada and around the world as it changes over time.
The collection houses objects that represent continuity and change, creativity and expressiveness of the Ukrainian culture, including books, journals, posters, maps, printed ephemera, manuscripts, commercial and field audio and video recordings, artifacts and photographs related to the study of:
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traditional songs, tales, sayings, beliefs, calendar customs, life cycle customs, material culture, folk arts, performance traditions, community life;
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Ukrainian ethnic culture such as Ukrainian dance, choral activity, drama, embroidery, foodlore, ceramics; and
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vernacular, elite and popular culture as these relate to Ukrainian identity.
The BMUFA includes a broad continuum of objects, from the rare to the commonplace, from elite and popular cultural spheres. The BMUFA also maintains a collection of books, manuscripts and other commercial publications as well.
The collection is open to students, scholars, and the general public. It is used in teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses related to Ukrainian Folklore. It is also used by outside researchers for studies related to Ukrainian and Canadian folklore, and it is a resource for continuing community outreach projects and publications.