The auction’s lots were embroidered shirts created by art designer Liudmyla Bushynska, working under the RUTA brand. These garments, belonging to the “Magic Embroidered Shirt” collection, are unique. The shirts are embroidered with white threads on white background, but the threads change color in the sunlight. Overall, Bushynska created 40 embroidered shirts, and her collection is listed in the Book of Records of Ukraine as “the first of its kind, a collection of ethnic dress including embroidered shirts that change their color in the sunlight.”
All proceeds of the auction will fund the Golden Bird music festival for young people with special needs. “This project is a cry of the soul. I want to draw the attention of the whole country to the fact that our strength comes from unity and charity. We are now meeting people who will help in organizing the contest and serve as the support team. It is important that children with disabilities realize their musical talents,” Bushynska stressed.
Garments of the “Magic Embroidered Shirt” collection are made of German-produced threads. The production took a whole year, because the threads, being experimental products, made needles break and forced the designer to undo her works and start anew. Patterns which the shirts present in the sunlight are unpredictable, as they can feature any of the seven colors of the rainbow. For instance, the shirt bought by co-founder of the Ukrainian Fashion Week Iryna Danylevska has turned out to be yellow. “I have chosen a men’s shirt, perhaps seeking a paradoxical image. After all, a girl in jeans and an embroidered shirt is a typical character for the Ukrainian street fashion, and that is fine,” Danylevska believes. “The Ukrainian Fashion Week supports projects related to national cultural traditions. We also pay special attention to persons with special needs. Some of our hostesses are wheelchair-bound girls. It follows that we sympathize with projects related to the matter.”
The Kyiv auction saw eight embroidered shirts sold, raising 94,000 hryvnias. A similar event took place in Vinnytsia in late November, raising 98,000 hryvnias. The auctioneers want to come to other cities of Ukraine, in particular Dnipropetrovsk.
The All-Ukrainian Festival Golden Bird, for which the auctions were fundraisers, is scheduled to be held in Vinnytsia next spring.
The initiators of the song contest are already enjoying international support. Their foreign partner is Polish foundation Pro Omnibus, which organizes an annual international music festival for young people with special needs called the “Ciechocinek Creative Encounters.” The festival has been held in Ciechocinek for over 15 years. Each year, the event brings together around 50 performers from different countries and over 1,000 listeners. “When performed by people with special needs, music stimulates our best emotions and instincts,” representative of the Pro Omnibus Miroslaw Satora maintained. “We will hold our festival again in Ciechocinek in July 2015, and we will be happy to hear young artists from Ukraine there.” The Golden Bird’s initiators plan to send winners of the all-Ukrainian festival to the “Ciechocinek Creative Encounters.”
Ukrainian celebrities support the idea to hold a festival for children with special needs. Artist Olha Sumska, TV presenters Yurii Horbunov, Tala Kalatai and Marysia Horobets, leader of the TiK band Victor Broniuk, and frontman of the Haidamaky band Oleksandr Yarmola tried on the embroidered shirts. The celebrities were photographed wearing Bushynska-produced shirts, and photographer Volodymyr Koziuk presented these photos at an exhibition.
