Guest Blogger: Lauren Istvandity.
Over recent years, Queensland has become home to an increasing number of Ukrainian migrants and refugees. Yet what is often overlooked is that Ukrainians have shared their unique culture in Queensland for over 160 years, while the formalised Ukrainian Community of Queensland Inc. (once the Ukrainian Association of Queensland) celebrated 75 years of Ukrainians thriving in the state in 2024.
State Library is home to a significant array of items that document Ukrainian heritage, including within the John Oxley Library and beyond. Many Ukrainians living in Queensland today have parents or grandparents who migrated to Queensland with other displaced peoples from Europe immediately after World War Two. Significant documentation of cultural activities that remain central to the Queensland Ukrainian community is found in a sizeable compilation of photographs, documents, and ephemera donated by Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn.
The Pavlyshyns are widely recognised as leaders in the Ukrainian community since their migration in 1949. The Pavlyshyn Papers are a testament to the strength of the Ukrainian community’s resilience, their faith, and particularly, their pride in their cultural heritage traditions. The suppression or Russification of Ukrainian culture during periods of Soviet control contributes to the motivations of Ukrainian people to maintain their culture in diaspora, including in Queensland.
Photographs from the collection highlight the frequency of performance in Ukrainian migrants’ cultural life since the 1950s, particularly through activities such as dancing and singing for children, and also through an adult theatre troupe. Dancers are shown in photographs with lavish handmade costumes reflecting traditional dress, with boys and girls participating equally.
Ukrainian dancers at Yungaba Immigration Centre, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, 1952.31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0019-0001.
The Ukrainian dancers often featured in Warana, the precursor to Brisbane Festival - winning the performance competitions many times over.
Ukrainian Association of Queensland Girls' Dance Troupe, prior to performing at the Warana Festival Ball, Brisbane City Hall, 1966. 31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0006-0007.
Members of the Ukraine community taking part in the Warana Parade, Brisbane, 1962. 2935, Love, Lovf Family collection, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 2935-0056-0060.
Traditional clothing, in particular vyshyvankas, requires intricate embroidery of patterns that are unique to different regions of Ukraine. Vyshyvankas are celebrated by a national day (May 15) and have notably been worn by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zolenska. The Pavlyshyn papers include several books of embroidery patterns that belonged to Alexandra Pavlyshyn, which would have been used to craft traditional textiles, including clothing, in Queensland.
Girls in traditional dress at Ukrainian School event, south Brisbane, 1950-1988. 31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0004-0014.
Embroidery books from the Pavlyshyn’s collection. 31360 Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
The importance of music to Ukrainian migrants is also highlighted in the collection. Individuals or small to medium ensembles would play instruments such as the accordion or the bandura (a plucked, lute-like instrument), which would sometimes accompany dancing and of course, singing. The Queensland Ukrainian community also hosted various cultural visitors, including Sydney-born Victor Mishalow, now a renowned bandurist, pictured below visiting Brisbane in the 1970s:
Viktor Mishalov, player of the Ukrainian plucked string instrument bandura, South Brisbane, 1970-1979. 31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0012-0008.
In the absence of instruments, which could be difficult to get to Australia in the mid-20th Century, singing was highly encouraged. Song books for children can be found in the rich collection of materials relating to ‘Plast’, the Ukrainian version of ‘Scouts’, where patriotic tunes were often rehearsed.
A song book used in Plast. 31360 Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Photographs from the Pavlyshyn’s collection also document formalised choirs, which often took to the stage for concerts:
Ukrainian Association of Queensland Choir, St Luke's School, Buranda, 1951. 31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0005-0002.
Ukrainian Association of Queensland Male Choir, Buranda, 1951. 31360, Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 31360-0005-0001.
To find out more about the diversity of Queensland Ukrainian culture in person, pay a visit to the John Oxley Library on Level 4, or connect with the rich information collections on Ukrainian culture, including poetry, painting, and social histories on Level 3.
- View the catalogue record for the collection, 31360 Roman and Alexandra Pavlyshyn papers.
- View digitised photographs from the collection.
About the Author
Dr Lauren Istvandity is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at the Griffith Centre for Social and Cutlural research. Her current research looks at the preservation and creative use of the cultural heritage of migrant groups in Queensland.
Lauren was also awarded State Library's 2017 John Oxley Library Fellowship, for her research project, Reminiscing about jazz in Queensland: Preserving pre-1965 oral histories for the Queensland Jazz Archive Collection. Read other blogs by Lauren on this project.
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