There was my life before I went to Kyiv and my life after. Going to collect the art from the WAG's  Spirit of Ukraine exhibition in June 1991 made such an impression on me in terms of what life was like in the Soviet Union relative to life in Canada. Maurice Fox and I went there together and stayed until we had accomplished our task of packing some 150 works of art to ship back to Canada.. In Kyiv, at that time, they lacked many things we take for granted here including power tools, liquid dish detergent, local banks, direct long distance phone lines, panti-hose, and modern plumbing fixtures. We had to carry all our money into the country in small denominations of US currency (this makes for makes quite a big wad around your middle) and exchange it right on the street with the person who had the best rates on a piece of paper pinned to the lapel. A mop at the State Museum was a T-shaped stick with a rag wrapped around the far end. Everything there smelled like pungent Ukrainian tobacco. We became accustomed to waiting in lines for hours to get anything done ranging from customs and immigration clearance, to picking up our luggage, to buying bread. To the good, we met many marvelous people at the State Museum who invited us into their homes, served us delicious meals and cups of tea, took us on trips to the country and celebrated the baby steps of glasnost. Ukraine became part of us.

Cathy  Collins