Archival fonds of Wadym Dobrolige
22 June 2023
We are thrilled to announce that the archival fonds of remarkable artist Wadym Dobrolige at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives (BMUFA) is now accessible online.
Wadym Dobrolige's life and artistic journey were filled with resilience and creativity. He was born on December 7, 1913, in Nizhyn, Ukraine. After graduating from the Kyiv Art Institute, he ventured into book illustration, survived imprisonment during WWII, and eventually settled in Canada.
Thanks to the generous gift from Natalia Dobrolige, Wadym Dobrolige's daughter, his fonds now exists at BMUFA. This invaluable collection comprises original artwork, sketches, personal documents, photographs, newspapers, and video footage, showcasing the breadth and depth of Dobrolige's artistic contributions.
The Fonds features numerous photos, including icons, Iconostases, church paintings, portraits, still lifes, posters, and more. Among the treasured artifacts is a photograph of an icon created by Wadym Dobrolige in 1946 during his time in Germany. You'll also find handwritten personal notebooks, a prayer notebook, and articles and programs detailing Wadym and Valentina Dobrolige's life and work.
We invite you to explore the "Wadym Dobrolige Fonds" at BMUFA, where you can delve into the artistic journey of this extraordinary artist.
Watch our mini-documentary about Wadym Dobrolige here:
This is the second in the series of mini-documentaries about various Ukrainian Canadian topics created by Legacy Films for the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre in cooperation with the Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta. See the rest of the series here.