The Franko

Festival

By HANNAH
POLOWY

At Canadians of Ukrainian
origin and especially those
belonging to the Association
of United Ukrainian Canadians
should be proud of the great
cultural contribution made by
the Ukrainian Canadian people
in the Franko Festival held at
Winnipeg this month when
thousands of people from all
parts of the country gathered
in that pioneer city to honor
the great Ukrainian poet and
writer, Ivan Franko, on the
centenary of his birth and the
65th anniversary of Ukrainian
settlement in Canada.

On July 6, a drama festival
was held in Winnipeg AUUC
Hall. Three of Franko’s plays
were presented—by an Ed-
monton drama group, a youth
drema group from Vancouver
and a Winnipeg drama group.

Whatever the shortcomings
of the productions, presenta-
tion of these plays served td
emphasize the importance of
the Ukrainian contribution to
the theatre and to give hun-
dreds of members of cultural
groups across the country a
new idea of what can be ac-
complished by more effective
use of it. The hall was packed
to the limit of its 1,000 capacity
and hundreds of people had
to be turned away.

On July 7, more than 4,000
people gathered to witness the
unveiling of a monument to
Ivan Franko and the opening
of a museum dedicated to his
hfe and work.

The photographs, writings
and paintings in the new
museum, a gift from the

Ivan Franko Museum at ‘Lvov
and other cultural institutions

at Kiev, tell the story of Ivan -

Franko’s life and show his
werks in great detail.

Among other exhibits in the
museum are exquisite towels
embroidered with traditional
Ukrainian patterns and color
combinations in minute cross-
stitch work which have been
contributed by Ukrainian Can-
adian women.

In the Ivan Franko Museum
a new historic site has been
established in this country
which, like the Taras Shev-
chenko Museum at Palermo,
Ontario, will be a shrine for
all Ukrainian Canadians as
well as an important contribu-
tion to the country’s culture.

On July 8, a huge picnic was
held at Campbell Hussavak
on the shores of Lake Winni-
peg. There more than 5,000
people gathered to meet their
friends from every part of
Canada, to watch a sports
program and listen to an in-
formal outdoor concert.

e
The festival held on July 7

—an impressive presentation
of the finest Ukrainian Can-
adian talent in the country —
drew the largest audience of
the three-day celebration in
the beautiful and spacious new
Winnipeg Arena.

From the moment the 400-
voice choir started the march
up to the stage to the last
item on the program the audi-
ence was held spellbound by a
performance that brought to-
gether nearly 1,000 members

A statue and a painting of Ivan Franko have been set in

Franko’s poem, “Pavers of
the Way,” was given a dra-
matic reading by F. Gordienko,
the lyrics being depicted in
the pioneer spirit by an effec-
tive black and white bronze
tableau.

John Weir, whose translations
of Franko’s works have just
been published in book form
under the title. Ivan Franko:
Stories and Poems, wrote a
peem, dedicated to Franko, in

the vestibule of the new museum in Winnipeg honoring the
greatest Ukrainian poet and writer.

of AUUC cultural groups from
12 cities under the direction
of Eugene Dolny.

Every participant felt the
enthusiastic appreciation of
the 7,000 spectators to the
beautiful choral arrangements
and orchestral selections, to
the vivacious dances and es-
pecially to the highlight of the
performance, the Bukovinian
wedding scene.

The Bukovinian wedding,
number was a new experience
for many of the participants
as well as for the audience and
none appreciated it more than
those familiar with that part
of the Ukraine and its cus-
toms. Many people shed tears
when they saw the traditional
wedding customs and dances
portrayed on the floor of the
arena. The scene was auth-
entic to the last detail, even
te the finale in which the bride
and groom rode off in a horse
and wagon.

The dances performed en
masse by the 150 dancers, the
choreography of such favorite
dances as the Meteletsya and
Veliky “Hopak, aroused the
huge audience to thunderous
applause with their color and
vigor. Highest honors were
given to the Vancouver dance
group which appeared in an
individual number.

which he told of the inspira-
tion Ukrainian pioneers in this

country derived from the poet’s
works:

“To win our sons a better
ny eee

To work and fight, that’s
what he taught,

We’re on the highway which
you paved, O mighty
Kamenyar.”

The finale of the program
stirred every heart, as the
combined choir and orchestra
presented “We're for Peace,”
while the mass dance group
and the Winnipeg juniors
marched in drill formation
carrying colored flags grouped
around the Canadian ensign.
And while the arena was
blacked out a bronze tableau
appeared depicting the statue
of the Kamenyar with his
raised sledge,

To the last breathtaking
moment it was a dramatically
cenceived and carried out pro-
gram, an experience never to
be forgotten by the hundreds
of performers and the thous-
ands who saw it. Above all, it
was a tribute to the creative
ability of Ukrainian Canadians,
fecussing national attention on
the cultural contribution they
are making to their country.

Profile of Palmiro Tooliatti

He would smile

Te opinions expressed by

Palmiro Togliatti on
events in the Soviet Union
have been followed by
newspaper speculation all
over the world.

Togliatti himself .is not
likely to have been worried
even by the spiteful com-
ments. An ironic smile is
his probable reaction.

In a country where tem-
pers easily explode and
speeches are loud and pas.
sionate, the leader of the
Italian Communist party
is noted for the saneness
of his attitude and the even
logic of his public utter-
ances. His speeches, norm-
ally delivered in tones of
firm reasonableness, are
persuasive rather than or-
atorical.

Yet among a populace
where oratory is,at a pre-
mium, few people can hold
an audience as Togliatti
can — a Roman crowd
estimated at half a million
assembled in September
1948 to hear his first public
speech after the attempt
on his life during the pre-
vious July.

Short, plump, _ benign,
with twinkling eyes behind
spectacles, a humorous,
smiling mouth, a sharp wit,
Togliatti is popular even
among people who hate his
political views

x *
He was born in Genoa
on March 25, 1893. As it

was Palm Sunday he was
christened Palmiro.

At 18 he won a scholar-
ship to the University of
Turin, where he _ studied
law and took a ‘degree. The
fact that it was Turin Uni-
versity had a considerable
influence on his future for
two reasons.

First, the huge new Fiat
plant was the cradle of or-
ganised labor in Italy, and
when Togliatti became in-
terested in the labor move-
ment, its activities, humm-
ing with life, were on his
very doorstep.

Second, he met another
student, Antonio Gramsci,
with whom he_ worked
closely in the Socialist party
and later the Communist
party.

When the Italian Com-
munist party was founded
at Leghorn on January 21,
1921, Gramsci was elected
secretary and Togliatti was
delegate for Turin. Two
years later Togliatti was on
the party’s executive com-
mittee and editor of its
first paper. :

Soon came the fascist at-
tack, in which thousands
of leading Communists were
imprisoned, banished to re-
mote islands or killed. The
fascists kept Gramsci in
prison for ten years before

their jails finally killed
him.
Togliatti was abroad at

the time of the raids. From
then until the defeat of
fascism in the war, pay-

. ile, Togliatti beca

ing secret visits t
he organised the
ground activities 7
Communist party
When the fascist
police made work
there were those wh

PAIMIRO TOGL!

in favor of discal
the _ resistance; Ly
group led by Togli
the party together:
In the Spanish ©
he spent two years
International Brigat
during all the perl
exile, when he was®

ing member of thé
munist Internat
wrote extensively
name of Ercoli.

The result of all @
of the work of othe
Communists, was ~
mediate and tré
growth of the le
munist party at the
the war.

x *

From being a hu?

inet minister —
without portfolio 7

first post-fascist ®
ment — later depuw4
minister and fina

ister of justice.
Communists were |
ed from the gov®
Togliatti led the
ergetic opposition
seen,

Togliatti was
and imprisoned
Mussolini, and
come _ close end
breathe down his
several occasions.

In Madrid at the=
the Spanish war, hé ]
rested and was sq
verge of executiom
away in the confus
followed the fall
city.

On July 14, 1
wing. student — fire
shots into his body
range. He sul i
though only after a4
illness. Two yeals
he cracked his spine
a car crash near
months after that
operated on for
clot on the brain.

Each time his t0¥?)
stitution pull
through.

He is, indeed, b
man with a tough #
ible mind But 4%
this is important
humanity and the
humanity. That ©
is so popular.

July 27, 1956 —PACIFIC TRIBUNE