Hi!
I have so many things to tell you. Oh my, I don't know how to fit everything on a tiny screen. So now my biggest issue is not what to write but how to write all I want. You deserve truth and beauty.
Yesterday, I visited a marvellous exhibition of Ukrainian art textiles. I will share photos of it and some stories about this kind of art.
Larysa Brovdi, Dance, 1977. Wool, hand weaving
The last few days were hot for russia. Saky military air base was hit in a temporary-occupied Crimea. Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) drones attacked three airfields deep inside russia, damaging the Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic bomber-missile carrier in the Olenya airfield. The kamikaze drones also hit an oil refinery in the Ryazan region. Around 01 am (moscow time) on July 28, drones struck an oil depot in Kursk Oblast.
Good job, boys!
Stepan Ganzha, Our soul and our will do not die, 2018. Wool, hand weaving
The world continues its support. The European Commission announced the transfer of a €1.5 billion tranche from the proceeds of frozen russian assets to Ukraine. German defence company Rheinmetall officially received an order to build an ammunition factory in Ukraine. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated that Ukraine will get half a million artillery shells by the end of 2024 as part of the programme undertaken by Prague.
This support is necessary, and not only on the battlefield. Life in Ukraine is hard. Around 32% of Ukrainian families have enough income only to buy food. Over 48% of respondents said their families have enough finance for food and clothes but have to save for something more expensive, while 9% said they do not have enough money even for food. The poll was conducted before the government proposed a bill raising the wartime tax last week.
I will finish with the news now and take you to the world of Ukrainian art textiles.
“The Arts and Crafts Movement”, which emerged in England in the mid-19th century, significantly impacted the culture of different nations. Its goal was to preserve and develop arts and crafts in the context of rapid industrialization. William Morris led the Movement. He founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. company (later Morris & Co.), which produced consumer goods in opposition to the standardized, monotonous flow of products.
The achievements of the Arts and Crafts Movement were also admired in Europe. Following the British practice, artists from other countries turned to their own folk culture.
Vasyl Krychevskyi, an architect, graphic artist, designer and one of the founders of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts, supported the Arts and Crafts Movement and led the Ukrainian style in the early 20th century.
His practice of working with traditional images of folk art and their modern transformation destroyed the idea of Ukrainian culture as purely rural.
Oleksandr Sayenko, a student of Vasyl Krychevskyi, continued the Ukrainian style. His artistic practice was based on combining folk and professional art. In the 1920s and 30s, he designed interiors, furniture, and sketches of tapestries and carpets.
Oleksandr Sayenko, Goats under a Tree, 1983. Wool, hand weaving
Today, his daughter Nina Sayenko and granddaughter Lesya Maidanets, who work in art textiles, continue the master's traditions.
Nina Sayenko. Top - Meeting a Cossack, 1999. Based on Oleksandr Sayenko's 1924 sketch. Bottom - Ukrainian Antiquity, 1982. Based on Oleksandr Sayenko's 1921 sketch. Both - wool, hand weaving.
Lesya Maidanets. Left - Autumn, 1999. Right - Game, 1999. Both - wool, hand weaving
Historical evidence of carpet weaving in Ukraine dates back to the 16th century when the production of plain-woven carpets became a traditional practice. The next stage in the development of this craft is associated with the emergence of the so-called “lordly” carpets. Ukrainian carpet weaving developed fruitfully until the end of the 19th century, acquiring distinctive features thanks to serfs who worked in the lords' factories.
The early 20th century was a period of turbulent events for Ukraine: the fall of the russian Empire, the struggle for Ukrainian statehood, industrialization, and the establishment of the occupying Soviet regime.
The artists started to explore folk carpet weaving, including the entire production process from yarn and dyeing to weaving. They were restoring weaving workshops at the location of former lords' manufactories. Professional education opportunities emerged, such as opening a textile department at the Kyiv Art Institute and founding textile weaving workshops.
Today, art textiles compete for a proper place in Ukrainian art, still dominated by painting and sculpture. For several Ukrainian artists, textile work was an experiment and a short episode in their creativity. Such artists as Jacques Chapiro (Yakov Chapiro), Oleksandr Rojtbud, and Oleksandr Sukholit transferred signs, images and forms characteristic of their artistic practice to textiles, giving them a new sound thanks to purely textile means of creative expression.
Oleksandr Rojtbud, from the series Cardinal Richelieu, 2018, Cotton, jacquard weaving
Jacques Chapiro, Winter, from the series 4 Seasons, 1959. Cotton, hand weaving
I need to stop as this letter will be endless. I do hope that you liked it (even a bit). Before I let you go live your life, let me quickly update you on the EcoFlow portable power station. I talked with the company's manager on Tuesday. My EcoFlow power station was transferred to the logistics department. That means I can get it soon (or not soon). The demand is so high that we should wait a long time. It might surprise you, but the reality of war is quite different from normal.
Katia Lisova. All works are from the series Dark Times, 2023. Fabric, print, hand embroidery. Left - Outside the Window. In the middle - Heart. On the right - Path Through the Darkness.
Sincerely,
Yaroslava