Now every citizen and guest of Kyiv will be able to immerse themselves into the atmosphere of the Cossack era by visiting Mamaieva Sloboda—a restored Cossack village, which was opened in the Kyiv park Vidradny near National University of Civil Aviation. A thematic arboretum with elements of the Cossack everyday lifestyle and culture totaling 98 items was created on the area of over nine hectares.
The idea and its implementation are the merit of Kostiantyn Oliinyk, director of the Cossack Mamai Ethnology Center, whose efforts were also supported by the Dreamland ethnic festival and personally by Oleh Skrypka.
When you leave the stifling city jungles you find yourself at this Cossack place, the first thought that comes into your mind is that here a Ukrainian soul feels at ease. Sashko Lirnyk is right when he says that people in Kyiv are thirsty for authentic things. Just imagine, at the entrance to the village there are Cossacks riding horses, cannons firing, and church bells ringing. In Mamaieva Sloboda there are wooden kurins and fenced huts. A winding path leads to a pond with a high canes and water lilies in it. Taras Kompanychenko and the band Khorea Kozatska are performing on an improvised stage. Isn’t this a truly Ukrainian idyll? And all of this is happening right in Kyiv.
The beauty of Mamaieva Sloboda is that, unlike a museum, everything presented here can be used. From now on it will be the center of swirling old village-style life.
“This is not a museum. All the huts here have been just built. We will restore old village life here,” promised Skrypka. “In museums you are often not allowed to go somewhere or touch some things. Here everything is created for real life. I would like to come here more often. That is why we plan to invite many different artists to come and perform here.”
“The special thing about this project is that it was not all about bringing old things together from different places. Oliinyk’s initiative started with a romantic dream of restoring an ideal city like the one described in Oleksandr Ilchenko’s novel Kozatskomu rodu nema perevodu, abo zh Kozak Mamai i chuzha molodytsia (Cossack Generation Will Never Seaze to Exist, or Cossack Mamai and a Young Married Woman),” says the kobza player Taras KOMPANICHENKO. “Restoring an ideal world after Ruin. This [village includes] a number of extremely interesting items, restored monuments of the past, and a certain historic atmosphere. I will work to create a sacral theater here.”
“This is a good place a family holiday, shooting a film, or staging a concert,” says Tamara KOMPANETS, press attache of the band Vasia Club.
Kostiantyn OLIINYK, director of the Cossack Mamai ethnological center, wants Mamaieva Sloboda to become a landmark place for Kyiv and its citizens. He says: “It has already become a calling card, because the village is located near the head of the river Lybid. We plan to realize our projects here—invite folk craftsmen, creative people, and Ukrainians. I hope that the village will be open to visitors every day. We do not know yet how people will react, how many visitors we will have, and how they will treat the place—hopefully, they will not litter here. The entrance fee will be nominal.”
The attitude of Ukrainians to the newly restored village of Mamaieva Sloboda will be an indicator of whether we are ready to comprehend our own history.
