The works of masters from all regions of our country were presented in the Ukrainian Home. The audience saw various types of souvenirs: vyshyvankas, towels, Easter eggs, paintings, jewelry, tapestry, carpets, products of ceramics, metal, plastic, leather, wood and even dough… Master classes, a sales-fair and a competition for the best souvenir took place as well.
It should be stated that large queues of exhibition visitors sprung up near the counters. Close attention was paid to the Petrykivka painting, and to works by the Reshetylivka Workshop of Art Crafts, the Kosiv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts and others. An exhibition participant Andrii Pikush reminded that in old times each home in Ukraine had an item of Petrykivka art painting. Kateryna Ponomarenko, an entrepreneur, has been making contemporary Ukrainian clothes for two years. “Many Ukrainians want to have something ‘national,’ either a towel, a piece of clothing or a tablecloth,” she said, “It is important that exhibitions of Ukrainian souvenirs are held more often. When looking at your colleagues’ works you observe how the coloring and ornaments vary in different regions of our country.”
Sviatoslav Martyniuk, director of the Kosiv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts spoke about the traditions of the Carpathian region: “Hutsul ceramics, carving, weaving and vyshyvankas are always distinguishable by their coloring and ornaments, which were elaborated over centuries. As a souvenir, a Hutsul product is one of the best.”
The visitors of the exhibit were highly impressed by the colorful products. Nothing was ‘commercialized.’ One was even spoiled by the possibilities of finding the perfect item — everything was so diverse, beautiful and original. You could only pity the members of the expert committee who had to choose the best souvenirs to be bought for the ceremonial events in order to be presented to leaders and members of foreign delegations on behalf of the president of Ukraine.
“The goal of creating this exhibition was to popularize Ukrainian art, to give artists an opportunity to enter new markets, enlarge their perspectives for personal creative growth and find new admirers of their talent,” emphasized the director of the Ukrainian Home Oksana Hrytsenko, “This year’s exhibit differs from the previous ones in range and quality: the works of more than 250 masters from all over the country have been presented. I hope that those who come to us during the Euro-2012 will want to purchase souvenirs — maybe one of those that were presented on this opening day.”
