"The Far Eastern Odyssey of Ivan Svit"
"The Far Eastern Odyssey of Ivan Svit" is a book written by Doctor of Philosophy Olga Khomenko.
It tells us a story of a journalist and historian, whose name few people remember today.
The story of Ivan Svit's life navigates readers through the complex historyof the Ukrainian diaspora
in the Far East (1860-1945) on the microhistorical level.
This poster project was created to support the book's narration and function as an illustrative material for the lectures, given by Olga Khomenko on the worldwide scale. My goal was to give a closer look at certain experiences, creating the way for empathy and helping the dialogue with people being distant in time.
Poster #1. The fate and activity of Ivan Svit in itself is a micro-history of the creation of Ukraine in the Far East and East Asia. In the tumultuous hours when two powerful ideological winds arose on the territory of China — Japanese and Ukrainian — they did not diffuse and did not dissolve into each other. Having gained new experience in this way, they scattered in different directions, getting rich and preserving their own structure and interests.
Poster #2. Ivan Svit was one of those people who discovered his Ukrainian identity after his stay in the Far East, where he shortened his surname from Svitlanov to Svit. Once he understood who he was, the World carried this awareness through
all circumstances and countries.
all circumstances and countries.
Poster #3. The first real stimulators of Ukrainian nadional identity conscious experience were Ukrainian artists who came to the Far East in two troupes. The second of them, the troupe of Kostya Myroslavskyi, played a decisive role in the development of the Ukrainian cause, was the factor that revealed dormant forces and pushed them on the path of work for their people.
Poster #4. Since the abolition of serfdom on the territory of the Russian Empire, as well as up to the 1920s, up to a million Ukrainians left for the Far East. Having strong self-organization skills, they were able to open a Ukrainian House, theater groups, build a Ukrainian church, open a gymnasium and create several mass media.
Poster #5. All these Ukrainians in the East, in Harbin, Shanghai, Tianjin, including the world, dreamed of returning home,
and even ended their correspondence with the wish: "Goodby, see you in our Native Mother Ukraine."
Poster #6. After the Second World War, the majority of Ukrainians in China became stateless and without valid documents.
In order to go abroad, seeking salvation from the Chinese communist forces, one needed a passport, for which one had to prove one's nationality, confirmed by relevant documents from the national community.
