At the Royal Cultural Center of Amman, on the Holy Land of Jordan, an exhibition of the world-famous Ukrainian artist Ivan Marchuk “The Voice of My Soul” was opened before Easter.
About 50 paintings of six creative cycles (of the twelve created by the artist during the creative life) are presented to visitors to the prestigious cultural institution of this distinctive Muslim country. An unobstructed grip of spectators was caused by hyper-realistic landscapes, especially winter: the whole generation of Jordanians had never seen snow, so for many it was the first meeting with the classical winter of the northern latitudes. Not less admiration was caused by abstract surrealistic canvases by the artist of the cycles “Tired Melody”, “Voice of My Soul”, graceful graphics from the series “New Expressions”. The Muslim tradition has its own strict canons, but the eternal themes of human existence, violated by the Ukrainian artist, turned out to be close to the people of the East, the technical expression of semantic compositions, led the audience to delight.
The Minister of Culture of the country, Raid Shokum, gave his support to the organization and opened the exhibition. The Ambassador of Ukraine to Jordan Sergey Pasko made a welcome speech. It was thanks to Sergei Alekseevich that level art event became possible in this Middle Eastern country. It should be added that the diplomatic institution headed by him constantly and persistently forms a positive image of our country in Amman. Here is the street of Taras Shevchenko, a square of Ukrainian-Jordanian friendship, where all the trees were brought from Ukraine and rooted in, it seemed, on an entirely favorable ground. At this time, the lilac blooms in the square, causing Arabs to be amazed and the special feelings of our compatriots, who now live in Jordan about five thousand. By the way, thanks to our diplomats, Ukrainians have united in the Ukrainian Hut in Jordan community, which enables them not only to communicate but also to create an interesting page of Ukrainian culture: poets, composers, artists turned out to be among the emigrant women. So, the name of Victoria’s poet Abakadum is already widely known in Ukraine. She is the mother of five children and teaches them all Ukrainian.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by politicians, government officials, diplomats from countries accredited in Amman, and numerous journalists. Ivan Marchuk, in an interview with the central channel of the Jordanian television, said that culture is the face of the country, and it is these measures that help build strong bridges between peoples. He expressed confidence that the exhibition will better understand Ukraine and give her sincere and reliable friends.
Public Organization “All-Ukrainian Forum for Democracy” was a project partner and provided informational support.
