Traditional Ukrainian Painting with Olha Zhydetska

We created our own artwork using the traditional Ukrainian technique of Petrykivka painting, a style of ornamental painting rich in symbolism and characterized by fantastic flowers and other natural elements, based on the flora and fauna local to the Ukrainian village of village of Petrykivka where the style originates.

Crepe Paper Flower-Making with Iryna Zhydetska

We experienced the magic of transforming a simple piece of paper into a beautifully realistic flower.

The art of making objects from paper originated in ancient China and later spread across the world. Paper flowers have become especially popular in Eastern Europe during the last century where they are used to decorate homes for holidays, adorn church altars, and embellish pictures of saints in domestic settings.

During this session, we learnt how to make a basic flower.

Pysanky Egg Painting with Stefaniia Pohrebniak

Pysanky is the traditional Polish and Ukrainian craft of decorating eggs using wax-resist techniques and vibrant dyes. All eggs are traditionally un-boiled and white.

In this session, participants used a pysachok (stylus), wax, and dyes to create their own intricate design.

Book Making with Ruth Fettis

In the aftermath of World War Two, exiled Polish and Ukrainian communities in Bradford bravely created and smuggled micro-books in the heels of shoes and by other methods as a way of sending messages and banned literature to those back home.

In this workshop, led by artist Ruth Fettis, we imagined that we had been exiled from our country and made our own collage book or zine to send a message to someone.