"K" for "Konfiscated": Letters from the Ex-KGB Archives in Kyiv

Please join us on Thursday, March 12th, for our next Folklore Lunch presentation by Nataliya Bezborodova and Jelena Pogosjan.

6 March 2020

When: March 12th, 12 pm

Where: Kule Folklore Centre, 250 Arts & Convocation Hall, University of Alberta

All are welcome. Light refreshments will be served.

Throughout the 20th century, a posted letter remained the main medium in bridging distances between Ukrainians in the Old Country and in the diaspora. Letters collected from the former KGB archives in Ukraine, during the summers of 2018 and 2019, shed light on the obstacles that Ukrainian migrants in Europe and North America faced in their efforts to keep ties with their families in Ukraine during the Soviet regime and the Cold War circumstances. Nataliya Bezborodova is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta. Jelena Pogosjan is the Director of the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta and a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies. They will share their recent findings.

Read a CBC article about the project. Listen to the CBC interview with the presenters.

The recording of the presentation is available here.