As we reach the milestone of three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Professor Paul Allain is working with the university’s Special Collections team to make a cultural contribution to support the country.  

Professor Allain from the School of Arts and Architecture visited Ukraine in summer 1993, when he was finishing his PhD about Polish theatre. His visit to rural areas of Polissia, Poltava and Bessarabia – which are all now facing regular bombardment – was with Polish company Gardzienice and specifically Ukrainian singer and collaborator Mariana Sadovska. The pair went across the country to meet villagers and record traditional songs and music as preparation for a subsequent visit by the theatre group.   

Thirty-two years later, Professor Allain learnt that Sadovska had created an archive which included his photos as well as some of their recordings. Crucially, he realised that for Bessarabia, which borders Romania, the music was missing.  

With the expert help of Special Collections, he has now digitised his own collection of songs, music and stories recorded in the field, contained on seven cassette tapes, and shared them with Sadovska and her colleague Jurij Josyfovych, who is working on the archive’s technical side.  

Professor Paul Allain says: ‘As Ukraine faces the spectre of Russia trying to erase its people and culture, such memorialisation and recording of their rich musicality and heritage has a renewed purpose. I’m extremely proud of how I and the wider university have been able to make this small cultural contribution to support Ukraine’s fight.’  

Sadovska and Josyfovych thanked Professor Allain and colleagues in Special Collections as well as the UK more widely for their ‘unwavering support’ in these ‘turbulent days’.