Volodymyr Diakiv, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language, Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Lviv Polytechnic, took part in the complex historical and ethnographic expedition Boykivshchyna–2025 in order to implement the research project «Folk Christian religiosity in the system of traditional calendar rituals of Ukrainians in the winter cycle», which is carried out with the support of an international scientific grant provided by CIUS – the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
The expedition took place from 4 to 24 August, 2025 and aimed to conduct a detailed study of various aspects of the folk culture of Ukrainians in the Carpathian region.
Boikivshchyna is one of the most important historical and ethnographic regions inhabited by Ukrainian farmers, which has always attracted the attention of domestic and foreign researchers in comparison with neighbouring ethnographic areas. A review of existing publications and materials shows that there is much that remains unexplored, especially phenomena related to modern changes and transformations in the ethnoculture of the Boikos. The ethnographic boundaries of the region need to be clarified; existing works do not exhaust the issues under study, contain erroneous or biased approaches, focusing on the external attributes of folk life and culture without proper connection to the specific historical conditions of the political, socio-economic and cultural life of the Boikos.
The creation of a multi-volume historical and ethnographic work that would combine a multifaceted retrospective coverage of the subject with a scientific disclosure of the content of events, especially those that took place in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries and which, due to dynamic socio-political circumstances, were selectively silenced or interpreted in different ways, is an important and relevant task. The Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has planned to prepare a multi-volume work entitled «Boikivshchyna» on the basis of the latest scientific and methodological approaches and its own field research.
Field research in Transcarpathian Boykivshchyna (ethnographic boundaries cover part of the territory of modern Mukachevo and Khust districts) took place over 21 days.
Eleven scientists participated in the expedition: two doctors and nine candidates of sciences. The expedition was led by Professor Yaroslav Taras, Doctor of Historical Sciences, who researched sacred architecture and folk crafts and trades. Other participants studied public life, Ukrainian identity, fortune telling, folk and veterinary medicine, the role of water in rituals, wildcrafting, folk embroidery, the interior of folk dwellings, folk architecture, funeral and memorial rituals, etc.
Ethnographic materials were collected and recorded using all available methods: interviews, biographical narratives, direct observation, sketches, measurements, and audio recordings. The most important artefacts and phenomena were photographed. The collected field materials will be processed and organised in accordance with archival requirements and submitted for storage to the archives of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The expedition not only facilitated the collection of unique materials but also fostered the exchange of expertise among scholars in ethnology, history, philology, and art history. Volodymyr Dakiv’s participation in the study of Ukrainian calendar rituals has made a significant contribution to the study of the spiritual culture of the Boikivshchyna region and will contribute to the further scientific publication of the expedition’s findings.
