The FGCU Library will host a panel discussion called “Ukraine: Art & Politics” from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 in Edwards Hall, Room 112. Inspired by the current exhibit in the Library Archives, the event is free and open to the public.
“Україна: Ukraine — The Maniichuk-Brady Collection of Socialist Realist Art” features museum-quality works created by Ukrainian artists during the decades following the death of Stalin and preceding the fall of the Soviet Union (1953-1991). After Ukraine achieved independence in 1991, the official art of the Soviet period was discredited as propaganda and the paintings were subjected to systematic destruction. Some 150 paintings were rescued by Jurii Maniichuk in the mid-1990s, and a portion of the collection is in Naples.
The discussion inspired by these works will involve panelists from Ukraine, FGCU political science faculty, a former U.S. government official and current political consultant, and journalists who will discuss Ukraine behind the Iron Curtain and its current political unrest.
The discussion will revolve around lessons to be learned from a better understanding of the past. Journalist and author Lyn Millner, an associate professor in FGCU’s Department of Communication & Philosophy, will moderate.
The panelists are:
- Rose Brady, a writer and editor based in Naples. A former senior editor for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, she was stationed in Moscow as bureau chief from 1989 to 1993 covering the Soviet Union during the end of the Cold War. She was married to Jurii Maniichuk in 2000 and has been the administrator of The Maniichuk-Brady Collection of Socialist Realist Art since 2009.
- George Nesterczuk, who provides management consulting services through his firm Nesterczuk and Associates, including consulting with Ukrainian government officials on public administration sector reforms. He served as a senior official in the Reagan Administration, holding successive positions in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation. A former Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Civil Service of the Committee on Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives, he later became Senior Advisor to the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for the Department of Defense from 2004 to 2006.
- Richard W. Coughlin, an associate professor in FGCU’s Division of Public Affairs. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Syracuse University in 1993. From 1991 to 1997, he taught international relations, political theory, and comparative government at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. His research interests include international political economy and immigration policy.
- Alla Abata, an associate professor of technology and design in textiles at the Kiev National University of Technology and Design from 1990-2011. Originally from Ukraine, she resides in Southwest Florida and is attending FGCU.
The Maniichuk-Brady Collection remains on display through Dec. 3 on the library’s third floor. Viewing hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call Melissa Minds VandeBurgt, Head of Archives, Special Collections and Digital Initiatives, at 239-590-7658.
- Read a previous post about The Maniichuk-Brady Collection