History. The golden years

History

Members of the Ukrainian Artists Society during the national congress in Lidcombe, NSW in 1976.

Although active as individuals, it was only in 1967 that a formal visual artists group was formed, largely through the initiative of Stefan Misko from Canberra. Misko travelled to the various states in Australia, seeking Ukrainian artists and forming them into a collective. This group became the Ukrainian Artists Society of Australia (in Ukrainian by the acronym: СУОМА). Stephen Misko was the founder and president of this organisation, Peter Kravchenko (Sydney) became its secretary, and Orion Wenhrynovych (Melbourne) and Aleksander Chubatyj (Sydney) each served as treasurers.

The Society’s first exhibition was held on 25–31 August 1967 at the Gallery, Canberra Theatre Centre as part of the Ukrainian National Festival “A Tribute to Australia”, which was opened by the Australian Minister for Immigration Billy Snedden. Nineteen Ukrainian-Australian artists from around Australia took part in this first national exhibition.

The golden years

The ‘golden years’ of SUOMA (NSW), when it was the most active, lasted for about 10 years. After 3 months of formation in 1967 it had already staged its first exhibition, and thereafter it had exhibitions once a year until 1976. As well, the Society participated in national exhibitions of SUOMA which were held in 1968, 1971, 1976, as well as participating in the Ukrainian Festival in Canberra in both 1967 and 1972.

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