Supplemented Edition of the "Culinary Recipes" of the Holodomor in our Library

9 July 2019

Library of the Holodomor Victims Memorial was supplemented by the publication Ukraine – 1933: Culinary Books. Human Memory. The book was published in Sumy. It can be divided into three parts:

  • The graphic series of artist Mykola Bondarenko 89 engravings of “culinary recipes”, which people were using to survive. Unique works of the artist who was born in the Buryn district (Sumy region). The works of Mykola Bondarenko were exhibited on all continents of the world.
  • Memoirs of witnesses of the Holodomor, which expand the perception of graphic works.
  • The archival documents, which complement the general picture of the Holodomor on the example of the Buryn district of the Sumy region.

“A series of engravings starts from the pictures of the sticks which were used for searching the farmers’ products after collecting the last crumbs from the table. The artist added the Soviet symbols to each stick because in the minds of the Ukrainian farmer, the sickle and hammer are still associated with the words “death and hunger.” Each graphic sheet is accompanied by the text: “Ukraine – 1933”. The role of quotes in the text of the engravings is performed by red stars, which constantly remind us of the time when our Motherland in the “zone.” Yevhen Sverstiuk wisely said of this in his time, “We were all in the zone, some – on this side, others – on that,” says art historian Petro Nesterenko.