Oleksandr Arkhypenko and the Ukrainian Community in the United States: Vectors of Cultural Interaction

The paper analyses cultural activities of world-famous Ukrainian and American sculptor Oleksandr Arkhypenko in Ukrainian community in the United States. It focuses on the interaction of the artist with the Ukrainian community after World War II and before his death in 1964. The cultural and artistic events in the United States and Canada with the participation of the sculptor and Ukrainian diaspora are considered. The main Ukrainian institutions and figures of national diaspora with whom Oleksandr Arkhypenko collaborated in the United States are identified. The sculptor’s works on Ukrainian themes are highlighted. Little-known publications in Ukrainian media in the USA about the artist are identified. The aim of the work is to trace the main directions of interaction between Oleksandr Arkhypenko and the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States and to determine the place of the sculptor in artistic community. The issue of the artist’s activity in the Ukrainian environment outside of his homeland is actualized in a context of a new wave of mass emigration from Ukraine. The analized issue is also gaining importance to reinterpretate the heritage of artists who emigrated from the Russian Empire. The paper introduces archival and little-known materials into scientific circulation; systematizes and summarizes the experience of Oleksandr Arkhypenko’s cooperation with the Ukrainian community in the United States; highlights the main artistic events and some publications on the topic; reveals the ideas put forward by the world-famous sculptor in the circle of Ukrainians. It is stated that Arkhypenko and the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA mutually influenced each other. The artist participated extensively in the activities of the Ukrainian community in the United States, which became an important life and professional support for him, as well as a basis for preserving and strengthening national identity. At the same time, the Ukrainian diaspora made efforts to involve an internationally recognized compatriot in the implementation of the community’s cultural strategies.