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The Taras H. Shevchenko Museum founded by the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, for the purpose of popularizing the life and work of the Bard of Ukraine, and the contribution of Canadians of Ukrainian descent to the social, economic and political life of Canada.

The Museum exhibits are dedicated to the art, life and literary legacy of the founder of the modern Ukrainian language Taras Shevchenko, who has twice been celebrated as a cultural leader of world acclaim by UNESCO.

About Taras Shevchenko Museum
The Museum located in Toronto is the second such institution operated by the Foundation. The original Museum, opened to celebrate Canada Day, 1952, was located in a 16 acre park near Oakville, Ontario. It complemented a monument to Taras Shevchenko, the first in the Americas, which was unveiled the previous year, the 60th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to this country. The monument and much of the original collection of exhibits were gifts of the people of Ukraine to their kinfolk in Canada.

Our Mission
The objective of the Taras H. Shevchenko Museum and Memorial Park Foundation is the dissemination and popularization of the life and work of Ukraine's greatest son, serf-born poet, artist, humanist, twice celebrated a cultural leader of world acclaim by UNESCO, Taras Hrehorovich Shevchenko.

Memorial Park
The Taras H. Shevchenko Museum and Memorial Park Foundation owns a beautiful 16 acre park near Oakville, Ontario alone the Dundas Highway near the town of Palermo. In the center of the park the stately monument of Taras Shevchenko, cast in bronze, with its pedestal of marble is standing majestically against the blue Canadian sky.

Taras Shevchenko Short Biography
Taras Hryhorovich Shevchenko, the great Ukrainian poet, artist and thinker, was born on March 9, 1814, in the village of Moryntsi in central Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His parents, H. Shevchenko and K. Shevchenko, were serfs on the land of V. Engelhardt.

Childhood of Taras Shevchenko
The place of his birth was the village of Morintsi, some 200 kilometres to the south of Kiev, an area which in earlier generations had been the home of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. Amongst the peasantry, burdened by the brutal and unjust system of serfdom, tales of these folk heroes and their struggles for freedom, were commonplace, a relief from the toils of the day, as well as a hope for a better future. It was in such an environment that the young Taras and his siblings were raised.

Saint Petersburg Period
Taras Shevchenko arrived in St. Petersburg from Vilnius, along with the rest of the servants of Paul Englehardt, in February of 1831. He was on the eve of his seventeenth birthday. It was here, in the Tsarist capital and the centre of the cultural life of the Russian Empire, that Shevchenko was to mature, first as an artist, and as a poet, writer and activist.

Arrest and Exile Period
In 1845 Shevchenko graduated from the Academy of Art and left for Ukraine. He began to work for the Kiev archeographic commission and in this capacity visited many towns and villages of his homeland.

Final Years of Taras Shevchenko ( Freedom on the Chain)
On August 2, 1857, Taras Shevchenko sailed from Novopetrovsk Fortress on a fishing boat and after three days on the Caspian Sea arrived at Astrakhan. From there he took a steamboat up the Volga to Nixhny Novgorod (today the city of Gorky).

Quick Facts on Shevchenko Biography

My Destiny - an autobiographical essay by Taras Shevchenko

Special Exhibition "Highlights of Shevchenko's Life"
Twenty-two Ukrainian artists illustrate significant events in Shevchenko's life and interpret a selection of his poetry with 25 artist's copies of lithographs and engravings. Also featured id a copy of Shevchenko's outstanding 1860 lithograph. "Self-Portrait With a Candle". Included in the exhibition are two table-top board exhibits; "Selected Poetry by Taras Shevchenko", (12 items), and "In Praise of Shevchenko", (14 items) - both in English. Also, two albums of his art are on display and available for visitor's viewing.

Taras Shevchenko's Art
The great poet, ardent patriot, thinker and humanist, Shevchenko, is at one and the same time an outstanding master of Ukrainian painting and graphic art, the founder of critical realism and the folk element in Ukrainian fine arts.

Taras Shevchenko's Poetry
Selected Poetry of Taras Shevchenko

Shevchenkiana Library
The Taras Shevchenko Museum has a very valuable collection on Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's greatest poet, a talented artist, and the founder of the modern Ukrainian literary language.

Shevchenko Bibliography
The bibliography of over 300 entries includes all of the major books in English about Shevchenko and his literary and art works. It also includes entries for scholarly journal and popular magazine articles as well as analyticals for essays and chapters in books.

Articles and Essays
Article The Bard of the Ukraine By Yevgen Kirilyuk, Correspondent Member, Academy of Science of the Ukraine.
Article Taras Shevchenko By Ivan Franko, Published in The Slavonic Review in London, UK in 1924-1925;

Art Gallery
The Art Gallery features the works of prominent Ukrainian artists of the 20th Century, including an interesting collection of oils and watercolours by Mykola Hlushchenko. While the paintings on display are periodically changed, their focus in on works by and about Taras Shevchenko.

Taras Shevchenko Monuments Around the World
People of all races, nationalities, beliefs and political views see the erection of monuments to Shevchenko as a demonstration of deep respect and love to a Ukrainian national genius, and as international recognition of his contribution to world culture. According to the former director of the Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv, Serhiy Halchenko, there are now over 600 Shevchenko Monuments in the world.

Ukrainian Handicrafts and Folk Art
One room on the main floor of the Museum displays a small portion of the Museum's extensive collection of Ukrainian handicrafts and folk art, including many fine examples of costumes, embroidery, ceramics, wood carving and weaving.

First Ukrainian Immigration to Canada
Over one hundred years ago, on September 7, 1891, Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak, two 33-year peasants from the village of Nebyliw in Eastern Galicia, stepped off the steamship Oregon in Montreal. Their arrival signaled the beginning of three waves of Ukrainian immigration to Canada and mark the origins in this country of what has been estimated to be over 1,000,000 Canadians of Ukrainian descent.

Shevchenko in Stamps
One of the most popular topics among Ukraine collectors, if not the all-time favorite, is Taras Shevchenko. The beloved poet and artist has been granted many laudatory titles over the years. He was not a leader or a legislator, but nevertheless led the way in forging the path to eventual Ukrainian nationhood.

Videos
Video tours in the Shevchenko Museum. Available in English and Ukrainian.

Music set on Taras Shevchenko poetry
In this page visitors are able to listen to the songs set on the Taras Shevchenko's poetry.

Become a Volunteer
Ever since its inception in 1952 this unique museum, with its art gallery and recearch library, have been devoted to popularizing the Bard of Ukraine, people's poet, artist and humanist, and has been operated and maintained, in the main, by volunteers.

Business
The Art Gallery is available for rent. Conveniently located on Bloor near Dundus Street West, it can be an excellent show room for everyone who is interested in demonstrating his/her art works. It is an ideal location to create a lasting impression for your exhibition.

Contact Us
Taras H. Shevchenko Museum and Memorial Park Foundation
1614 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, M6P 1A7, Canada
Tel: (416)534-8662, Fax: (416)535-1063, email: shevchenkomuseum@bellnet.ca

Become a Donor
Meeting our goal through the maintenance, development and education, Taras H. Shevchenko Museum and Memorial Park Foundation relies on public donations to run its projects.

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