Several weeks ago we published a promo video for a new virtual tour under this title on The Day’s website. Ivan Kotliarevsky, the author of Eneida and founder of modern Ukrainian language, became the hero of our tour this time. He spent his whole life in Poltava, where he created the well-known play, as well as Natalka Poltavka and Muscovite-Sorcerer.
Kotliarevsky is known to our contemporaries above all as a writer. However, he was a versatile personality. He was a teacher; he played the violin, composed music, had a perfect command of French, knew Latin and Old Greek, translated Sappho, founded the first theater in Poltava and directed it. Back in his lifetime Kotliarevsky’s name drew to Poltava people who, like he, molded their time. Ivan Kotliarevsky succeeded in uniting the elitist and folk things in Ukrainian culture, but he was also a person of his time and a national of the Russian Empire.
The text of the audio tour contains the following passage: “The interior of the house successfully recreates the atmosphere of the time, the spirit of the people, who were noblemen of the Russian Empire, but who still felt connected to their people, its culture and traditions. This feeling of connection to Ukrainian land was manifested in various ways. Kotliarevsky transformed it into a joyful poem, a grotesque, yet life-asserting monument to Ukrainian soul.”
See the continuation of the story, this time with a sequence of images and an audio guide, in the 24th virtual tour via Ukrainian museums on the website “Ukraine Incognita.”
Creative team of the project “Museums Online”
