Artist Karina Hayeva, in partnership with the National Museum of Decorative Art of Ukraine and the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora, is launching the international art initiative ‘Symbols of Identity’. The project will take place on Ukraine’s Independence Day. It is a symbolic act of uniting Ukrainians around the world through the revival of vybiyka — an ancient Ukrainian technique of hand-printing on fabric
On August 24, 24 participants from 20 cities and countries around the world — including the USA, France, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Montenegro, Japan, and others — will unite online to simultaneously create vybiyka-printed ritual towels as symbols of memory and dignity. Each participant has developed their own stamp design for the vybiyka printing and embedded a personal, unique story into the pattern.
In Kyiv, the central event will take place at the National Museum of Decorative Art, while international participants will join remotely, creating a live broadcast of cultural unity. Each of them will receive a special box with materials to realise their own vybiyka piece.
When and where: August 24, 14:00–15:00, National Museum of Decorative Arts of Ukraine (9 Lavrska St.), Museum of Ukrainian Diaspora (40B Knyaziv Ostrozkykh St.). The online event livestream will be available on the Instagram page: @by_karina_gaeva
Vybiyka is a traditional technique of decorating fabric using carved stamps. It was widespread in Ukraine from the 11th century, especially from the late 17th to early 18th centuries. Today, this technique has almost disappeared, so the project aims to revive it in a contemporary artistic and cultural context.