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Opanas Zalyvakha - BIO:
One of Opanas' earliest memories is of awakening from a fevered sleep with the wide grin of a Chinese face staring down at him. He had taken ill, and it was the healing knowledge of the Orient that saved his life.
Although the Ukrainian community in Zeleny Klyn was large, under Stalin all education was in Russian. But the attic of their school was filled with Ukrainian books, and the young boy read them all, learning the history of his homeland. Following completion of the Arts Academy in Irkutsk, in 1946 Opanas entered the Leningrad Academy of Art, but before long he was excluded from the institute for his dissident activities. Further attempts to re-enter the Institute were rebuffed, Opanas obtained a teaching certificate and worked in Kaliningrad, at the Academy of Art. It was not until the age of 35, after Stalin's death, that Opanas Zalyvakha finally achieved his dream of completing his higher education as an artist.
As a student, Opanas Zalyvakha traveled to Kosiv, a Hutsul village, for a workshop in the graphic arts. The folk art of the region captivated his imagination. He also became acquainted with a group of young people who lived through the independence movement in Western Ukraine, for whom the idea of Ukrainian identity was not some ephemeral or subconscious, but something real and necessary.
Following completion of his studies, Opanas moved to Tyumen province, where he was offered living quarters, to begin his artistic career, possibly as a monumental artist. This did not work out quite as he had hoped, and in 1961 he found himself back in Ukraine, in Ivano-Frankivsk. Zalyvakha found himself in the center of the tumultuous cultural revolution of the sixties, as one of the "shestydesiatnyky." As with the other prominent figures of this age: Ivan Dziyba, Vasyl Symonenko, Les Taniuk and many others, the work of Opanas became known throughout Ukraine. Together with Alla Horska, he created a monumental mosaic of Taras Shevchenko at the Kyiv State Institute.
In August 1965, along with Ivan Svitlychnyi, who happened to be visiting him at the time, Opanas Zalyvakha was arrested, convicted for promoting anti-Soviet and nationalist propaganda and sent to a Mordovian concentration camp. He refers to this period as an opportunity to rub elbows with the flower of intelligentsia of the entire Soviet Union. The period of incarceration destroyed the artist physically, but his spirit could not be broken.
After his return to Ivano-Frankivsk, Opanas filled his days and nights in his attic art studio. His art gained renown, but it was not until the iron curtain was rent that he was able to display his works openly, and he was recognized as a "Distinguished Artist of Ukraine."
Opanas Zalyvakha continues to reside in Ivano-Frankivsk. He and his wife Daria have two children, Yaroslav and Yaryna, and a grandson. Their home on Oleha Koshovoho is a veritable art gallery, filled with paintings, sculpture and wood carvings. Renowned Ukrainian nationalists have been known to drop by unexpectedly, to visit with Opanas.
Although fame and recognition have come to the artist, his work has never brought him commercial success, and he continues to live in relative poverty, battling with ill health and untenable living conditions. The Zalyvakha's meager pension barely covers living costs, with very little left over to provide food for the table. Opanas' generosity is legendary, and unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of his quiet nature.
The works on this website are representative. Although the photography is amateur, it serves as an introduction to the works of one of Ukraine's eminent artists Opanas (Panas) Zalyvakha of Ivano-Frankivsk.
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