Misplaced Pages

#325674

55-771: The museum's collection falls into three primary groupings, "folk art", which includes festive and ritual attire and other items of clothing, ceramics, metalwork and carved wood items, as well as Ukrainian Easter eggs ( pysanky ); "fine arts", including paintings, drawings, sculptures and graphic works by noted Ukrainian artists such as the primitive artist Nikifor , Mykhailo Moroz , Vasyl Hryhorovych Krychevsky , Emma Andiewska , Mykhailo Chereshnovsky , Alexander Archipenko , Peter Kapschutschenko , Alexis Gritchenko, Oleksa Nowakiwsky, Ivan Trush , Jacques Hnizdovsky , Liuboslaw Hutsaliuk, Bohdan Borzemsky, Halyna Mazepa , Ilona Sochynsky, Arcadia Olesnka-Petryshyn and Edward Kozak, and Petro Cholodny among many others; and items documenting

110-575: A pysanka . Ukrainian Canadians in Canada erected a giant statue of one in Vegreville , Alberta, and were involved in the effort to release several Canadian commemorative pysanky coins. According to many scholars, the art of wax-resist (batik) egg decoration in Slavic cultures probably dates back to the pre-Christian era. They base this on the widespread nature of the practice, and pre-Christian nature of

165-560: A decoction of plants or other natural products, usually onion skins, which cooks and dyes them a single color. The colour of krashanka depends on the dyestuff used: In the modern era, they are made using store bought food safe dyes, much like western Easter eggs. Children would play various games on Easter with krashanky, including having krashanka battles , where one participant would hold an egg still in their hand, while another would hit it straight on with their own—both eggs pointed end to pointed end. The person whose egg cracked would lose

220-539: A horsetail plant (сосонка sosonka ) pattern in yellow and bright green against a dark background. More than 70 such eggs have been excavated throughout Ukraine, many of them from graves of children and adults. They are thought to be representations of real decorated eggs. These ceramic eggs were common in Kievan Rus' and had a characteristic style. They were slightly smaller than life size (2.5 by 4 cm, or 1 by 1.6 inches) and were created from reddish pink clays by

275-634: A "scratch" technique, where dye is applied to an egg and then patterns scratched onto the shell; painted eggs, where the shells are painted using a brush; and various versions of appliqué , where items (straw, paper, beads, sequins) are glued to the shell of an egg. Krashanky (in Ukraine) — from krasyty (красити), "to decorate", known in Poland as "kraszanki" or byczki — are simple colored hard boiled eggs, and intended to be eaten after being blessed in church on Easter. They were traditionally made by boiling an egg in

330-401: A basket with traditional foods, including Easter bread , cheese, butter, meats, and eggs (decorated or plain). During the service, priests bless the food, which will be eaten on Easter morning. Some of the blessed eggs would be given as gifts to children, relatives, and romantic partners. Others would be set aside for ritual and protective uses. Easter eggs are now considered to both symbolize

385-413: A brush to apply dye), while Sorbian eggs often include text in addition to floral and geometric motifs. In Poland, pacenki are created in a manner similar to the sgraffito technique, by waxing eggs and then etching away the unwaxed areas. Traditional technique requires the egg shell to be covered with a layer of molten wax in which the pattern is scratched. The egg is then submerged into a dye. Finally,

440-854: A catalog with an essay written by guest curator Adrienne Kochman. Since the Revolution of Dignity , the museum has hosted several exhibits documenting the ongoing war. Pysanka The tradition of egg decoration in Slavic cultures originated in pagan times, and was transformed by the process of religious syncretism into the Christian Easter egg . Over time, many new techniques were added. Some versions of these decorated eggs have retained their pagan symbolism, while others have added Christian symbols and motifs. While decorated eggs of various nations have much in common, national traditions, color preferences, motifs used and preferred techniques vary. This

495-462: A dark brown color. Green plants would be used for green dye. The word pisanka is derived from the verb pisać which, in contemporary Polish, means exclusively 'to write' yet, in old Polish, meant also 'to paint'. Today, in Poland, eggs and pisanki are hallowed on Easter Saturday along with the traditional Easter basket and richly decorated. On Easter Sunday , before the ceremonial breakfast , these eggs are exchanged and shared among

550-532: A design onto a raw egg with a brush, using paints. Maliovanky have been created using all sorts of paints – watercolor, tempera , oil, acrylic. This term is also used to describe those eggs decorated using a pen and ink, and today includes eggs decorated using markers of all sorts. Maliovanky were never very common in Ukraine, but they did exist in many regions. In his 1899 catalog, Kulzhynsky documents examples of maliovanky (or “maliovani pysanky,” as he called them) in

605-441: A pagan tradition, decorated eggs were absorbed by Christianity to become the traditional Easter egg . With the advent of Christianity , via a process of religious syncretism , the symbolism of the egg was changed to represent, not nature's rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose. With the acceptance of Christianity in Slavic lands in around 9th century,

SECTION 10

#1732855669326

660-418: A sun god, Dazhboh . The sun was important — it warmed the earth and thus was a source of all life. Eggs decorated with nature symbols became an integral part of spring rituals, serving as benevolent talismans. In pre-Christian times, Dazhboh was one of the major deities in the Slavic pantheon ; birds were the sun god's chosen creations, for they were the only ones who could get near him. Humans could not catch

715-414: A white background. In modern times, this technique is often used on brown chicken eggs as well as on goose eggs; in the latter type, the result is either a monochromatic white egg with areas of relief, or the background can be dyed before wax removal to provide a color contrast. Known as maliovanky —from maliuvaty (малювати), "to paint"—in Ukraine and as malowanki in Poland, they are created by painting

770-503: Is a Central and Eastern European , and not strictly Slavic, tradition since non-Slavic ethnic groups in the area (ex. Hungarians , Lithuanians , Romanians ) also practice it. The names of the various types of Slavic decorated eggs come from the method of decoration, as noted in detailed descriptions below. Many of the names of wax-resist style eggs derive from the Old Slavonic пьсати which refers to writing. In Slavic tradition,

825-560: Is a Central and Eastern European, and not strictly Slavic tradition of egg decoration, since non-Slavic ethnic groups in the area also practice it: Hungarians ( hímestojás ), Lithuanians ( margutis ), and Romanians ( ouă vopsite , incondeiate or impistrite ). Wooden eggs and beaded eggs are often incorrectly referred to as "pysanky" because they mimic the decorative style of pysanky in a different medium. Known as driapanky —from driapaty (дряпати), "to scratch"—in Ukraine and as drapanki or skrobanki in Poland, these are made by scratching

880-651: Is a part of the Paschal cycle , and changes from year to year. Eastern Christianity calculates the date of Easter differently from the West (see Computus for details). In Western Christianity , Easter Saturday is the seventh day of Eastertide, as well as the seventh day in the Octave of Easter . In the Lutheran Churches , the Gospel for Easter Saturday concerns St. John's account of

935-603: Is applied using feathers which have been cut into shapes: diamonds, triangles, tear shapes, etc. Many other Slavic ethnic groups create eggs decorated using the wax-resist method, including the Belarusians (пісанка, pisanka ), Bulgarians (писано яйце, pisano yaytse ), Carpatho-Rusyns (писанкы, pysankŷ ), Croats ( pisanica ), Czechs ( kraslice ), Macedonians (вапцано јајце, vapcano jajce ), Serbs ( писаница / pisanica ), Slovaks ( kraslica ), Slovenes ( pisanica, pirhi or remenke ), and Sorbs ( jejka pisać ). This

990-576: Is the day preceding the Second Sunday of Easter (also known as St. Thomas Sunday or Divine Mercy Sunday). The term "Easter Saturday" is also used colloquially to refer to Holy Saturday a.k.a. Easter Eve – a week before the religious holiday of Easter Saturday, probably because of references to the Easter weekend. Many people, especially religious authorities, regard this alternative meaning as inaccurate, but it remains in common Australian usage. The use of

1045-562: Is the last day of Easter Week , sometimes referred to as the Saturday of Easter Week or Saturday in Easter Week . It is the seventh day in the Octave of Easter too. In the liturgy of Eastern Christianity it is the last day of Bright Week , and called Bright Saturday , The Bright and Holy Septave Saturday of Easter Eve , or The Bright and Holy Septave Paschal Artos and Octoechoes Saturday of Iscariot's Byzantine Easter Eve . Easter Saturday

1100-919: The Cherkasy Oblast and in Northern Bukovina , Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia , as well as among the Lemkos in neighboring Poland and Slovakia. Since Ukrainian Independence in 1991 , there has been a rebirth of this folk art in its homeland, including a renewal of interest in the preservation of traditional designs and research into its symbolism and history. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sparked increased interest in pysankarstvo, both in Ukraine, where patriotic motifs have become more common, and abroad, where interest in Ukrainian culture has dramatically increased. There are many types of decorated eggs produced in Slavic culture, and their names are usually based on

1155-662: The Russian empire , and into nearby Slavic countries. In the mid-19th century, as the modern era unfolded, a shift began in the function of the pysanka, from being a ritual object to that of being a decorative one. Pysankarky (women who wrote pysanky) in the Carpathian Mountains (mostly Hutsuls , but Bukovinian Ukrainians and Pokuttians as well) began mass producing pysanky and taking them to nearby towns to sell at Easter. This practice proved profitable, and Ukrainian pysanky began to appear in markets throughout western Ukraine and

SECTION 20

#1732855669326

1210-698: The hymns from the Octoechos . On Bright Friday, the Resurrection hymns from the Octoechos are taken from Tone Eight . Before the dismissal of Matins a crucession ( procession headed by the cross ) takes place, going three times around the outside of the temple (church building), while chanting the Paschal Canon (in parish churches , this crucession often takes place after the Divine Liturgy ). On this day,

1265-603: The Artos: “O Lord Jesus Christ our God, the angelic Bread, the Bread of life eternal, Who came down from heaven and nourished us on these brightest days with the spiritual food of Thy divine benefactions for the sake of Thy three-day saving Resurrection, also now look down, we humbly pray Thee, upon our prayers and thanksgivings, and as Thou didst bless the five loaves in the wilderness, do now bless this bread, that all who eat of it may be granted corporal and spiritual blessings and health, through

1320-637: The Paschal Artos , a large loaf of leavened bread which was blessed at the end of the Paschal Vigil on Pascha (early Easter Sunday morning), is broken and distributed to the faithful. This may either be done at the end of the Divine Liturgy, and given out along with the antidoron , or it may be broken at trapeza (refectory) before the festal meal. According to the Supplemental Book of Needs ,

1375-509: The Sunday after Easter. In some regions of Ukraine, they were used to promote crop fertility — krashanky were buried in the grain fields to promote good growth. Krashanky were also buried in vegetable gardens at such places where they would not be trodden on, to chase away pests and for vegetables to grow thick. The shells of krashanky could not simply be thrown out:, lest a witch get ahold of them and use them for evil purposes; instead, they were fed to

1430-419: The battle, and the winner would keep it as a prize. In Ukraine krashanky, like pysanky, had talismanic powers. The krashanky themselves, particularly those which had been blessed, were holy and could not be trampled upon — to do so would bring bad luck. Girls would wash themselves in water in which a blessed krashanka had been placed to make themselves more beautiful. Krashanky were placed on graves on Provody ,

1485-509: The beginning of the Ninth Hour . The Vespers (or All-Night Vigil , depending upon local usage) on Saturday night is chanted in the normal manner, rather than the Paschal manner. However, the Paschal troparion "Christ is risen..." is read (or chanted, if a Vigil) three times at the beginning. That Vespers is the beginning of Thomas Sunday . Because the date of Pascha is moveable, Bright Saturday

1540-413: The birds, but they did manage to obtain the eggs the birds laid. Thus, the eggs were magical objects, a source of life. The egg was also honored during rite-of-Spring festivals—it represented the rebirth of the earth. The long, hard winter was over; the earth burst forth and was reborn just as the egg miraculously burst forth with life. The egg therefore, was believed to have special powers. Originating as

1595-423: The calling out of spring, ensuring fertility, or protection. The eggs were left intact, as there was magic within the egg itself, and allowed to dry out over time. In modern times, these eggs are usually meant to be decorative objects of art, rather than magical amulets, and the egg yolk and white are usually removed by blowing them out through a small hole in the egg. Other techniques were more regional, and include

1650-494: The chickens to help them lay, saved to smoke out fevers, or tossed in a river to send them to the Rakhmany , so as to let them know Easter had arrived in the land. In Ukraine, lystovky —from lystia (листя), "leaves"—are created by dyeing an egg on which small leaves or flowers have been attached, and kept in place by wrapping the egg in muslin. The egg is then dyed, the cloth and plant material removed, and images remain in white of

1705-669: The collection of the Skarzhynska museum from the Voronezh , Kursk , Kharkiv and Poltava gubernias . In the postwar period, maliovanky were produced in Bukovina and sold in the Easter markets there. Easter Saturday Easter Saturday , on the Christian calendar , is the seventh day of Eastertide , being the Saturday of Easter or Bright Week. In the kalendar of Western Christianity it

Ukrainian Museum - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-405: The decorated egg, in time, was adapted to play an important role in local rituals of the new religion. Many symbols of the old sun worship survived and were adapted to represent Easter and Christ's Resurrection . During Holy week , eggs are dyed in bright colors and decorated by various techniques. On Holy Saturday Slavic Christians, Catholic and Orthodox , go to a late night service carrying

1815-527: The egg (similar to icons) is written, not drawn or painted. The word pisanica is derived from the Croatian word that means "writing." The most common phrase put on pisanicas is "Happy Easter," or "Sretan Uskrs." Other common decorations are doves , crosses, flowers, traditional designs, and other slogans wishing health and happiness. In the Međimurje area, soot would often be mixed with oak to make

1870-829: The family at the table. This is a symbol of friendship, similar to the sharing of the Opłatek (Christmas wafer) on Christmas Eve . Egg decoration in Ukraine is widespread and practiced by many; in the premodern era, pysankarstvo was practiced universally outside of big cities (which often had non-Ukrainian populations). Several traditional forms of decoration are common ( krashanky , lystovky , pysanky ) while others ( driapanky , maliovanky , nakleianky ) are practiced less often. Newer forms of egg decoration, like biserky (beadwork eggs), travlenky (etched eggs), and rizblenky (cutwork eggs) are more recent additions, but gaining in popularity, although they are generally practiced by professional artisans rather than

1925-705: The fracturing of the Artos is done in this way: "After the Divine Liturgy, the Artos is carried, as is customary, to the Trapeza and "Christ is risen..." is sung three times, with reverences , and after "Our Father" has been said, and having blessed the food as usual, the Deacon says: "Let us pray to the Lord", and the Brethren respond "Lord, have mercy" , the Priest says the following prayer over

1980-418: The general public. In recent years, shrink wrap decals with traditional designs have become a favorite mode of decoration for many. The pysanka (Ukrainian: писанка, писанки (pl.) ) itself, a wax-resist type egg, is one of Ukraine's national symbols, and is known throughout the world. Pysanky imagery occurs often in Ukrainian literature, with Taras Shevchenko comparing a lovely Ukrainian village to

2035-472: The grace and compassion of Thy love for mankind. For Thou art our sanctification, and unto Thee do we send up glory, together with Thine Unoriginate Father, and Thine All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. The Brethren: Amen. Having fractured the Artos as is customary, he distributes it to everyone before the meal" The Holy Doors in the iconostasis , which have remained open all of Bright Week are closed on this day before

2090-602: The history and cultural legacy of Ukrainian immigration to the United States, including photographs, personal correspondence, posters, flyers and playbills, stamps and coins. For over 45 years, the museum has worked to promote Ukraine's rich cultural heritage abroad, featuring regular exhibitions often drawing from its own collection of traditional folk costumes, textiles, rare books, stamps, woodworking and photographs  and contemporary art. The museum regularly publishes catalogs documenting their scholarship. In 2015, recognizing

2145-488: The leaves/flowers. These are similar to British Pace eggs . Known as krapanky —from krapka (крапка), "a dot"—in Ukraine and as krapianki in Poland, these are raw eggs decorated using the wax-resist method, traditionally created by dripping molten wax from a beeswax candle onto an egg or daubing it on with a stick (often the handle of a pysachok ). This results in an egg with only dots or spots as ornamentation (i.e. without symbols or other drawings). They can be considered

2200-571: The molten wax can be written with it, much like a pen. The tips vary in size: fine tips are used to write fine details, medium tips are used for writing most lines, while wide tips are used for thick lines or for coloring in areas. In some regions, "drop-pull" eggs, a variation on wax-resist, are more common. These use a simple pin or nail head to apply wax to the eggshell instead of a special tool, resulting in designs composed of dots, tears and commas. In Sorbia , in addition to traditional linear batik and drop-pull, jejka pisać are created to which wax

2255-459: The process of wax-resist dyeing similar to batik. A tool similar to a canting called a "kistka" is used to apply hot wax to the shell of an egg, which is then placed in a series of dye baths. The wax prevents the dye from reaching the surface of the egg; multiple layers of wax and color may be applied to build the pattern which is then revealed when the wax is removed (by melting it off) at the end. Wax-resist type eggs (pysanky) had ritual purposes:

Ukrainian Museum - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-648: The rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , including major cities like Vienna and Budapest . In modern times, the art of pysankarstvo was carried abroad by Ukrainian emigrants to North and South America, western Europe, and Australia, where the custom took hold; the practice was concurrently suppressed in Ukraine by the Soviet regime, where it was considered a religious practice nearly forgotten. Museum collections were destroyed both by war and by Soviet cadres . Small areas of folk pysankarstvo survived in Ukraine, in

2365-462: The revival of nature and the salvation that Christians obtain from the resurrection of Jesus Christ . The Ukrainian name for a wax-resist type egg, pysanka , comes from the verb pysaty (писати), meaning "to write", as the designs are written onto the egg with beeswax , not painted on. No actual pysanky have been found from Ukraine's prehistoric periods, as eggshells do not preserve well. Cultic ceramic eggs have been discovered in excavations near

2420-473: The simplest version of a pysanka, or a "proto-pysanka". Known as pysanky —from pysaty (писати), "to write"—in Ukraine and as pisanki in Poland, they are eggs decorated using the wax-resist method (resist dyeing). The words pisanki/pysanky are sometimes used to describe any type of decorated egg, but they traditionally referred to an egg created by the wax batik method and utilizing traditional folk motifs and designs. The designs are "written" in hot wax. While

2475-413: The spiral method. The majolica glazed eggs had a brown, green or yellow background and showed interwoven yellow and green stripes. The eggs were made in large cities like Kiev and Chernihiv , which had workshops that produced clay tile and bricks; these tiles (and pysanky) were not only used locally but were exported to Poland and to several Scandinavian and Baltic countries. The oldest "real" pysanka

2530-635: The surface of a dyed egg with a sharp tool to reveal the white of the egg shell. Driapanky can be created with either cooked (krashanky) or uncooked eggs. This is a traditional folk technique of egg decoration in Ukraine; Kulzhynskyi gives many examples in his 1899 catalog. Scratchwork is a common form of egg decoration in many western Slavic countries, and can be found among the Czechs , Hungarians, Lithuanians, Poles , Slovaks, Sorbians (German Slavs) and Ukrainians. Czech Scratchwork eggs are noted for often being multicolored (small areas of color are painted on, using

2585-493: The symbols used. No ancient examples of intact pysanky exist, as the eggshells of domesticated fowl are fragile, but fragments of colored shells with wax-resist decoration on them were unearthed during the archaeological excavations in Ostrówek, Poland (near the city of Opole ), where remnants of a Slavic settlement dating to the early Piast dynasty (10–14th centuries) were found. As in many ancient cultures, many Slavs worshipped

2640-583: The techniques used to prepare them. The most universal type of egg decoration in Slavic countries is the krashanka, a simple boiled egg dyed a single color. Before modern chemical dyes became common, women would use natural botanical dyestuffs to make the dyes. The most common color for krashanky was red, usually obtained from onion skins. Krashanky were made to be blessed and eaten, although they were involved in games on Easter and sometimes used for ritual purposes. The most common form of egg decoration in Slavic culture, beyond simple single color krashanky, utilizes

2695-528: The term "Bright Saturday" avoids this confusion by clearly referring to the Saturday 6 days after Easter Sunday. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite , this day is known as "Bright Saturday", and is the last day of Bright Week . All of the services for Pascha (Easter) are repeated every day of Bright Week (Easter Week), except for

2750-453: The underrepresentation of women, the museum hosted its first major exhibition to examine the relationship between Ukrainian identity and women artists. The Ukrainian Diaspora: Women Artists: 1908-2015 featured over 100 works by 43 artists, including Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, Sonia Delaunay , Inka Essenhigh , Slava Gerulak , Natalka Husar , Aka Pereyma , Yulia Pinkusevich , Christina Saj , and Yaroslava Surmach Mills. The exhibition included

2805-514: The village of Luka Vrublivets'ka, during excavations of a Trypillian site (5th to 3rd millennium BC). These eggs were ornamented and in the form of торохкальці (torokhkal'tsi; rattles containing a small stone with which to scare evil spirits away). Similarly, no actual pysanky from the Kievan Rus' period exist, but stone, clay and bone versions exist and have been excavated in many sites throughout Ukraine. Most common are ceramic eggs decorated with

SECTION 50

#1732855669326

2860-404: The wax preventing the dye to adhere to the eggshell is removed. Thus, the pattern is created. In Ukraine, travlenky —from travlennia (травлення), "etching"—are created by using an acid like vinegar or sauerkraut juice to etch back down to the original white surface of the egg. Traditionally, it was used to create "white pysanky," eggs written as pysanky but then etched as a final step to produce

2915-402: The wax resist eggs of the various Slavic nationalities may appear somewhat similar, they can be differentiated by color schemes, divisions used, and motifs. The linear batik type of pysanka is made with a special tool, a stylus , called in Ukraine a pysachok (писачок), pysal'tse (писальце) or, less commonly, a kystka (кистка). This tool has a small metal funnel attached to a wooden handle;

2970-495: Was excavated in Lviv in 2013 and was found in a rainwater collection system that dates to the 15th or 16th century. The pysanka was written on a goose egg, which was discovered largely intact, and the design is that of a wave pattern. The second oldest known pysanka was excavated in Baturyn in 2008 and dates to the end of the 17th century. Baturyn was Hetman Ivan Mazepa 's capital, and it

3025-477: Was razed in 1708 by the armies of Peter I . A complete (but crushed) pysanka was discovered, a chicken egg shell with geometric designs against a blue-gray background. The practice of pysankarstvo was widespread throughout Ukrainian ethnographic lands. They were written in every corner of Ukraine, with traditional folk designs being documented by ethnographers well into the late 19th century in every region of Ukraine. This included those Ukrainians resettled within

#325674