Mykhailo Bilas and his dolls
Ukraine continues to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the famous artist, People’s Artist of Ukraine, master of tapestry, embroidery, applique, pastels and dolls Mykhailo Bilas (1924-2016).
While yesterday’s anniversary celebrations kicked off in Truskavets, where the artist’s personal museum (Mykhailo Bilas Art Museum) has been operating since 1992, today the epicenter of events was Drohobych, a city with which Bilas was also closely connected, including where he studied at a gymnasium and where he worked for a while.
First of all, it is worth noting that the Drohobychyna Museum has something that neither Truskavets nor any other city in the world has: a unique collection of dolls created by Mykhailo Bilas. These are the so-called “dancing couples” representing different nations of the world. Back in the Soviet era, hardly anyone dreamed of a Bilas museum,
The Drohobych Museum bought Mykhailo Bilas’s dolls from him, and it was a surprisingly successful investment.
Thus, Bilas’s dolls, as well as tapestries from family and private collections, became the basis of the exhibition that opened on August 2 at the Drohobychyna Museum in the Palace of Arts on Shevchenko Street.
The hostess, the director of the Drohobychchyna Museum, Alla Hladun, greeted the audience. Volodymyr Hanas, Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism Development of the Drohobych City Council, Tetiana Tatomyr, Head of the Department of Culture of the Truskavets City Council, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine, Olena Bilas-Berezova, Director of the Mykhailo Bilas Art Museum in Truskavets, Olena Bilas-Berezova, Head of the Department of Wooden Art of the Kolomyia Museum of Hutsul and Pokuttya named after Kobrynskyi, Honored Worker of the Kul
The presentation of the play (Mykhailo Bilas did not like the word “exhibition” and always said “performance”) turned out to be a surprisingly touching, intimate, sincere, and magnetically refined cultural event.
If anyone was not able to attend today’s opening of the exhibition of Mykhailo Bilas’s works in Drohobych, we cordially invite you to the Drohobychyna Museum (Palace of Arts) to see the unsurpassed dolls and magnificent tapestries – unique works of the People’s Artist Mykhailo Bilas.
We remind you that Bilas’s works are also on display in Truskavets in the museum named after him, including more than 60 works exhibited for the first time in history. We invite you to visit!