Exhibit- Rushnyky: Sacred Ukrainian Textiles

March 25, 2023 – September 10, 2023

“A house without a rushnyk is not a home.” — Ukrainian proverb

The word rushnyk derives from ruka, “hand,” and while it can refer to an ordinary towel, the ceremonial rushnyk is distinct in its ornamentation and its importance. In almost any Ukrainian home, the family icons—and, more recently, family photographs—would be draped with rushnyky. They are believed to offer protection to family, home and village. The cloths appear in all family rituals, infants are wrapped in them at birth and they play a significant role in betrothal and wedding ceremonies. Remarkably, even after the turmoil of the twentieth and twenty first centuries the use of rushnyky is still an integral part of Ukrainian culture.

The Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center is hosting this traveling exhibition from the Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, Massachusetts. This exhibit features rushnyky and related artifacts from the collection of Franklin Sciacca, Associate Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Hamilton College in Clinton New York.