During my recent visit to Ukraine, I had an opportunity to visit a Photo Exhibition / Authentic Clothing Show dedicated to the celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day. The exhibit was organized by Ukrainian Beauty Project and took place at the museum of Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.

Over the past four years, the team of Ukrainian Beauty Project has collected around 1,000 authentic ethnographic Ukrainian striy / стрій (a set of traditional clothes). Right now authentic striys are still around but in a 100 years they may no longer exist. Therefore, the Ukrainian Beauty Project organized this event to capture in photos the beauty of these clothes and preserve these memories for generations to come.

This event was especially interesting for me because as I also participated in a 2021 Ukrainian Heritage Calendar fundraiser that our own Ukrainian San Antonio non-profit recently launched.

Igor Malakhov, a Kyiv based photographer, used an old-school photo camera with film to create stunning black-and-white images that make you feel this event took place in a Ukrainian village centuries ago.

The striys used in the exhibit were provided by famous private collectors of authentic Ukrainian clothing: Ms. Olena Skrypka, Bohdan Petrychuk, Myla Vyshivanka, and Maya Ernst. The organizer of the project is Halyna Sovenko Sheverdina.

This was a great event and I am very lucky I was able to take part in it. First of all, this was a show for the entire family: interesting, informative, Ukrainian. And, second, this event was about the people. I went to the show not knowing anyone and my plan was to stay there an hour or two. Well, I ended up staying for much longer. I met really amazing people. People with big hearts. I was welcomed with open arms and was even given an opportunity to be part of the show and to model in authentic Ukrainian costume. I felt like I’ve known all these wonderful people for ages. If you ever have an opportunity to visit Ukrainian Beauty events - I strongly recommend you do!