Shadows of a Forgotten World

Volodymyr Koziuk started documenting thatched-roof houses 30 years ago. First he started painting them, then taking photos of them. “When I was searching for these houses, everyone laughed at me: ‘What a fool, spending time on old houses,’” says artist and philanthropist Volodymyr Koziuk.  Volodymyr doesn’t regret all the time and money he spent on this multi-year project because he believes it is unique. “Today many of these houses are gone, but there are photos, paintings. They are preserved in many of Ukraine’s museums.” Thanks to people like Volodymyr, these remnants of the past have been preserved and documented.  This house is over 300 years old. It is one of the two oldest houses in Ukraine. More photos and the article in Ukrainian can be found at here . 

We sing certain Ukrainian songs in the diaspora that are unknown or have been forgotten in Ukraine. I think the most powerful and saddest one is "Mamo." It's about a boy who during WWII was in the Majdanek concentration camp. (The camp was named after the Majdan Tatarski district in Lublin. Majdanek means “little maidan.”) Every night he sings out to his mother, but he can't get to her because of the barbed wire…  We used to sing "Mamo" at Ukrainian summer camp. It was always one of my favorites, but at the same time the saddest one. Unfortunately, these days new war, tragedy, farewell, and death songs are again being composed and sung in Ukraine. From the singers Darka & Slavko: “We first sang this song together in April 1986 at an evening dedicated to the poetry of Ukrainian political prisoners. This is dedicated to all those who are fighting for Ukraine's freedom and who have died for it. And to borrow a phrase from our friend Peter S...

This terrazzo floor was made by Giovanni Zuliani’s company (founded in 1892,  Lviv).  Two examples in Lviv: G. Zuliani and Son It seems this company also installed floors in  Krakow and/or had a branch there. This example I found in the entranceway to the hostel where I stayed in Krakow:

Terrazzo is a composite material made from marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other chips and poured with a binder. This material was used to pave many entranceways, stairwells, and communal space in Lviv's buildings. It was decorated with geometric designs, the year of installation, the name of the manufacturer, or with the word "Salwe" ("Salve"). Years Salve in Latin means "welcome." The spelling with a "w" is probably a Polish transliteration of the word.

 "...small epitaphs to the often overlooked bits of history that lie rotting all around us."

Old Lamp Posts Old Water Pumps

The first houses in Winnetka were built in 1836.  Few of the nineteenth-century houses remain. The oldest surviving house is the Schmidt-Burnham House, which was built c. 1837. This one is now a museum. This red one was recently torn down :(

The trend of hand-painted signs continues on this newly renovated building on Lviv's main square. This time, in addition to the usual Ukrainian, Polish, German, English translations, there is also French, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese. (Though there is a mistake in the Italian translation - should be "teatro" and not "theatre.")

Finally after about 4 years this Lviv ghost sign has been almost fully liberated.