Old Khata's 'Kvitky' — Tribute to beauty and enduring legacy of Ukrainian folk art

Detailed summary

Imagine your family has survived World War I, a nationwide revolution marked by brutal violence and constantly changing governments, and a famine. Then, less than a decade later, another, even more devastating famine strikes your land under its new rulers. You and the people around you have suffered for years, and many have died. No end to the suffering is in sight.

The cover of “Kvitky” by Old Khata and a drawing featured in the book. (Collage: The Kyiv Independent)

Imagine your family has survived World War I, a nationwide revolution marked by brutal violence and constantly changing governments, and a famine. Then, less than a decade later, another, even more devastating famine strikes your land under its new rulers. You and the people around you have suffered for years, and many have died. No end to the suffering is in sight.

Yet, on the eve of an important religious holiday, you sit down and decide to continue one of your people's most beautiful and heartwarming traditions: painting your house's walls.

First, you paint a small pot. Long green stems grow out of it, each covered in flowers of every shape and size. Almost every flower has petals in different colors, and strange fruits sprout between the blossoms, making the plant look as if it belongs in a fairy tale. Towering above it all, like a crown, is the largest flower, shaped like an eight-pointed star.

This wall painting, created in a village in central Cherkasy Oblast in 1935, and dozens of others from 11 regions of Ukraine are brought together under one cover in "Kvitky." Old Khata, an independent Ukrainian collective founded by two sisters exploring the country's traditional rural culture, had published its second book on this unique art form at a time when Russia is deliberately targeting Ukrainian culture as part of its war strategy (Editor's note: The Kyiv Independent's Kate Tsurkan translated 'Kvitky' into English).

This weighty, exquisitely designed book presents what is described as the largest printed collection to date of materials on traditional Ukrainian house paintings from the first third of the 20th century. However, it is more than a collection of images and accompanying texts. "Kvitky" testifies to the continuity of Ukrainian culture, science, and art, and honors those who have resisted centuries of attempts to erase Ukrainian identity.

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Opening of the article, excerpted from The Kyiv Independent. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.