Hand-Painted Eggs With Ukraine dominating the news this year, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada is especially relevant. We visited the Saskatoon branch. (Other branches are in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto.) Amid displays of Ukrainian heritage, folk art and traditional clothing, we discovered dozens of intricately patterned, colourful and painstakingly hand-painted pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs). Some – brought to Canada by early immigrants – are more than 100 years old. Pysanky-making workshops – held for two weeks prior to Easter in the Saskatoon branch – teach participants how to paint the decorative symbols using wax resist techniques. Year-round, you can buy kits with instruction guides, design sheets, beeswax, tools and dyes. The gift shop also sells beautiful pysanky created by Canadian artists. umcyxe.ca Hidden Treasures Where in the world will you find an impressive collection of Ukrainian Easter eggs, a Cold War memorabilia-filled four-storey bunker and the cast of a 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth? Answer: In Canada’s lesser-known museums. Although our country boasts several worldrenowned institutions, you’ll discover countless fascinating artifacts in Canada’s smaller, specialty and sometimes off-the-beaten-path museums. Here are several discoveries that we’ve enjoyed, to give you an idea of the diverse treasures preserved in collections from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Story and photos © Barb & Ron Kroll 14 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx