2024
Oct 11
2025
May 31
Ukrainian Museum of Canada
910 Spadina Crescent East
Saskatoon SK
S7K 3H5
Treaty 6 Territory
Cost: by donation
Art Exhibition
ArtsHeritage: Museum / Knowledge KeepersMulticultural: Cultural Group
Ihor Rodion Dmytruk: Testament
Ihor Rodion Dmytruk (1938-2021) was one of western Canada’s most prolific artists. A painter who experimented with abstraction and design, and a skilled draftsman and drawing instructor, Dmytruk was a fixture in the Edmonton art scene for decades.
Born in Kamianka-Buzka (then Kamianka-Strumilova) outside Lviv, Ukraine, into a family of priests, poets, and musicians, Dmytruk’s life began in relative privilege. However, under Soviet rule, religious beliefs and organizations were harshly repressed. In 1944, Dmytruk’s father, a Ukrainian Catholic priest, fled Lviv with his young family to avoid persecution. In 1950, they came as immigrants to Canada, settling in Lamont, Alberta.
This exhibition is a retrospective of the artist’s life and career. The exhibition title draws from “My Testament” (Zapovit), a famous poem by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko. An ardent Ukrainian nationalist like Shevchenko, Dmytruk was also a collector of Ukrainian folk art.
This exhibition displays his work alongside many of the objects that inspired him, drawn from the artist’s own collection of Ukrainian folk art as well as from the permanent collection of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. Together, these pieces explore the third wave of Ukrainian immigration to Canada and aspects of Ukrainian culture that have endured despite Russian efforts to erase them.
Testament is organized by the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, under the curatorial direction of John Koenig. Its presentation is made possible with the support of the Shevchenko Foundation, the Stephen and Micheline Worobetz Foundation, and the Dmytruk Family Fund
Born in Kamianka-Buzka (then Kamianka-Strumilova) outside Lviv, Ukraine, into a family of priests, poets, and musicians, Dmytruk’s life began in relative privilege. However, under Soviet rule, religious beliefs and organizations were harshly repressed. In 1944, Dmytruk’s father, a Ukrainian Catholic priest, fled Lviv with his young family to avoid persecution. In 1950, they came as immigrants to Canada, settling in Lamont, Alberta.
This exhibition is a retrospective of the artist’s life and career. The exhibition title draws from “My Testament” (Zapovit), a famous poem by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko. An ardent Ukrainian nationalist like Shevchenko, Dmytruk was also a collector of Ukrainian folk art.
This exhibition displays his work alongside many of the objects that inspired him, drawn from the artist’s own collection of Ukrainian folk art as well as from the permanent collection of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. Together, these pieces explore the third wave of Ukrainian immigration to Canada and aspects of Ukrainian culture that have endured despite Russian efforts to erase them.
Testament is organized by the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, under the curatorial direction of John Koenig. Its presentation is made possible with the support of the Shevchenko Foundation, the Stephen and Micheline Worobetz Foundation, and the Dmytruk Family Fund
2024
Oct 11
2025
May 31
Ukrainian Museum of Canada
910 Spadina Crescent East
Saskatoon SK
S7K 3H5
Cost: by donation
Organizer
Accessibility
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Safe and Inclusive Space