This film documents the career of the wood carver and carpenter Stepan Baraniuk. It was filmed by the Ukrainian Video Archives Society. The film opens in Mr Baraniuk’s workshop in Halifax where he introduces himself and gives a short biography. Born in 19?5 in the Hutzul region of Ukraine, Mr Baraniuk is a self-taught wood carver who creates unique wooden pieces for both the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic churches in the diaspora. He believes this work supports that of the church and...

This film documents the career of the wood carver and carpenter Stepan Baraniuk. It was filmed by the Ukrainian Video Archives Society. The film opens in Mr Baraniuk’s workshop in Halifax where he introduces himself and gives a short biography. Born in 19?5 in the Hutzul region of Ukraine, Mr Baraniuk is a self-taught wood carver who creates unique wooden pieces for both the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic churches in the diaspora. He believes this work supports that of the church and community and helps them prepare for the eventual day when Ukraine becomes independent. He comments on the kinds of items he makes, such as arks, iconostasis, triptychs, icon holders and the fact that he has made ten model churches. He has supplied these items to various churches including Manchester, Scunthorpe, Halifax, Bradford and others in the UK, as well as to the Ukrainian Catholic church in Lourdes. He shows and describes the areas of his workshop, including wood stores, equipment and tools, and works in progress. He mentions that his proudest moment was when he received a letter from Patriarch Josef Slipyj commending him on his work. Stepan then moves into the main part of the house, starting in a reception room which is decorated with a number of icons and religious pictures, as well as portraits of various members of UPA / OUN drawn by Sevarina (his wife). Moving into the hallway, he describes the numerous ornaments and pictures on the wall, all of which are similar to those which were on display at his home in Ukraine. From there, he moves into another room in which a number of his church models are on display. This includes a large model of Kyiv’s St Sophia Cathedral, and there are some close ups of the intricate, tiny details inside it, including iconostasis, altars, icons, candlesticks, all of which is illuminated with tiny electric lights. Stepan speaks in detail about the outside of the model too, indicating a porch which is called a Babyna - an entrance especially for women, and a Muzchyn - an entry for men, and an entrance for clergy. He has used photographs of St Sophia to inform his work and removes the cupola from inside to show the detail more clearly. The focus then turns to a display cabinet to examine his collection of traditional Hutzul items made in Kosiv, many of which feature encrustation and were made by his son. The film then moves to his bedroom, which he has set up to be very much like his room in Ukraine, with similar wall hangings, icons, religious pictures and decorations. He shows a model of a Hutzul table which would have traditionally been used to serve the solemn meal on Ukrainian Christmas Eve. The table has a storage area and Stepan uses this to store some soil from Kyiv. They then moved into the second bedroom which is similarly set up. He shows a photograph of a large group of Ukrainians in Lourdes before the church was built with Bishop Ivan Buchko in approximately 1935 and a traditional Hutzul kilim.