Conceptual and methodological principles of the project "Ukrainian Easter egg (Pysanka) in the European cultural space"

The unique project "Ukrainian Easter egg (Pysanka) in the European cultural space", which was implemented within the framework of the grant program of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the UCF) in 2024, was called to document, systematize and structure in the form of a digital software interactive product 250 artifacts of Pysanka art in the Internet space. They were selected according to the territorial principle, which most attractively represent the oldest and largest museum collection of these monuments in Ukraine from the corresponding collection of the Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which includes about 13 thousand units of preservation. However, by the end of the project, it became clear that in addition to the specified selection of Easter eggs (pysankas), there are several dozen surprisingly valuable rarities that complement, strengthen and enrich both the final visual effect and the final work results in an attractive and meaningful way. Therefore, in the end, the number of digitized monuments of Pysanka art amounted 287 units.      

Such a project is up-to-date, introduces iconic museum collections and sights not only into the domestic, but also into the European and world context, providing simple and effective access to various museum and repository collections for the scientific and cultural community, and also for the general public. Accordingly, there disappears the need for redundant access to rarities or groups of monuments created from delicate materials, such as paper, textiles, and in this case even more vulnerable – Easter eggs, on the most fragile material – a bird's egg. The digitization of the museum collection provides the prospect of its long-term archiving and documentation. It includes possibility of reconstruction in case of individual losses and even the whole monument itself, in particular due to force majeure circumstances, primarily military operations, taking into account the current situation in Ukraine with the unpredictability of the Russian-Ukrainian war and possible risks for objects of museum and cultural heritage. As more than 150 years of museum practice has shown, even the presence of photo archive materials with good-quality photographs taken at the time does not protect them from destruction in the longitude of several decades.

At the same time, a high-quality digitized museum product or project makes it possible to involve domestic museum funds (collections) in a fast connection with the databases of other similar institutions in the modern European and global Internet space.

The most promising interactive and interestingly informative museum content is in the form of virtual exhibitions of museum institutions of Ukraine in the Internet space with dynamic 3D models and 3D animations based on active public presentation of monuments from the collections, which previously were usually not accessible to the average person.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, a significant number of such iconic virtual museum projects and exhibitions have been implemented in Europe, which attract wide attention of visitors, contributing to the dynamic and full-scale informational development of the museum internet space. Among the most interesting examples of successful digitization of museum collections, which received wide public resonance in Europe, we would highlight the project "Karlsruher Tṻrkenbeute" (Baden Regional Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany), demonstrating the decorative and applied arts of the Ottoman Empire in its flourishing in the 17th century until the decline after the Vienna battle in 1683. The entire complex of this museum project "literally comes to life" with the help of creating a virtual space using dynamic 3D animations. [1]  

In the sense of the evolution of the dynamic model of the modern interactive museum space among our neighboring states, the "Pan Tadeusz" museum in the Polish city of Wroclaw should also be noted. Among Ukrainian museum institutions – a modern exposition with interactive 3D animation in the State Museum of Natural History in Lviv, the Regional Historical and Local History Museum and its branch – museum of Volodymyr Patyk, and the first thematic interactive permanent exhibition of musical instruments "Music that comes to life" created in 2017 (Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine).

Why exactly was the Easter egg chosen for this second interactive project of the Museum of Ethnography and Artistic Craft of the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences (hereinafter - MEAC), if its collections include about 100,000 monuments, the lion's share of which are other ethnographic collections of folk crafts? The analysis of the cultural and, in particular, museum content of Ukraine during the 2.5 years of full-scale war with russia showed that the main attention of Ukrainian society, apart from the most dramatic war themes, is now focused on learning about its own national and cultural identity and deep original historical cultural phenomena. And Easter egg (pysanka) meets this general public demand, and represents the quintessence of the national world life and, in fact, the only work of art that was created every year in the pre-Easter period in significant numbers, almost in every settlement of Ukrainian ethnic lands. Moreover, they are being localized in their own ornamental worlds with distinct territorial diversity within traditional ethnographic regions, individual sub-regions, and even villages.

The main emphasis of the project is aimed at highlighting the exceptional value of the oldest part of the collection of pysankas of the MEAC from the museum collection of the Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society (hereinafter - NTSh) for the modern Ukrainian and European cultural space and societies. It reflects the unique ornamental and colorful language of the Ukrainian pysanka with its ancient meaning of a significant layer of archaic symbols and signs, which in some places reach a thousand-year period (primarily solar geometrized motifs).

It should be noted that other ancient and large preserved museum collections of Easter eggs (pysankas) in Ukraine, in particular the Museum of Hutsul Region and Pokuttya in Kolomyia and the Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv, were formed somewhat later, starting from the beginning of 20th century. The collection of Easter eggs of the MEAC was created on the basis of a large collection of these artifacts from the Museum of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv, liquidated by the Soviet authorities in 1939.

Officially, 1882 should be considered the date of the beginning of the NTSh museum collection, in particular the collection of Easter eggs (pysankas). According to the scientific secretary of the society, Volodymyr Hnatyuk, "... already in 1882, some gifts influenced it ... (it is known that the first Easter eggs were also received then). In 1900, the first two cases were completed and placed in a separate room, and the collected items were arranged there." [2] One of these square-shaped, unique glass cases of the beginning of the 20th century, carpentry constructed in the form of a wide wooden display case with special nests-holes for Easter eggs, laid inside an inserted horizontal plane, has been preserved to this day in the museum fund/collection of Easter eggs (pysankas). (Fig. 1). This indicates the great attention paid to the preservation and demonstration of such surprisingly fragile artifacts, created on the surface of a bird's egg, which, moreover, have the ability to fade over time, losing to a large extent the original color created on the basis of organic and less stable dyes.

In the historical dimension, almost simultaneously, about 150 years ago, the process of popularizing the phenomenon of pysanka art in the public space of that time was started in the form of printed publications. However, they were insignificant in terms of the volume of circulation of products, mostly album content, starting from the book of Lesya Ukrayinka's mother – Olena Pchilka "Ukrainian ornament", which was published in 1876 with 23 color sketches of Easter eggs from the Novohrad-Volynskyi district, the book of Pelahiya Lytvynova "Southern-Rus ornament" of 1878 with two color tables with images of 24 Easter eggs from the Glukhiv district in Severshchyna and the 1st volume of Serhiy Kulzhynskyi's album "Description of the collection of folk Easter eggs" of 1889. The last work was based on the collection of the private museum of Kateryna Skarzhevska in Lubny, had a systematic structured character with a display of 2219 Easter eggs (pysankas), each of them had its own serial number, place of origin, year, name, and sometimes – the author of the work. [3]

In the "Greater Ukraine" as part of the Russian Empire, the first researchers who studied and popularized the Ukrainian pysankas were prominent scientists-encyclopedists and pioneers in the Ukrainian ethnography, folk culture and art: Fedir Vovk, Mykola Sumtsov, Vadym Shcherbakivskyi, and Stepan Taranuschenko.

On the other hand, in Galicia under Austria-Hungarian Empire, systematic museum collecting and promoting of Pysanka collections began somewhat later, but more systematically and centralised. It was organized by the Shevchenko Scientific Society, established in 1873, and under the protection of such generally recognized authorities as the head of the NTSh since 1897, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, outstanding anthropologist Fedir Vovk, and iconic historian Myron Korduba. Thanks to the efforts of Volodymyr Hnatyuk and Myron Korduba, from the very beginning of the NTSh museum, special thematic appeals of the NTSh were offered to the public of Galicia with a call to collect Easter eggs (pysankas), primarily in the period before Easter. Information of this kind was actively disseminated in the form of publications in periodicals of the Ukrainian asociations, printed products of the NTSh itself, and other socially significant societies.

The most systematic way to collect information about Easter eggs in different regions of Galician Ukraine, to create selection criteria and to collect the works themselves for the museum was M. Korduba, who, according to his own words: "... compiled an appropriate questionnaire with 27 questions, which he therefore supplemented with some notes  by F. Vovk. In agreement with NTSh, I announced that questionnaire in the magazines: "Dilo", "Narodni Chasopysy" (April, 1896) and "Notes of NTSh, vol. XI". In addition, I sent 200 copies of the questionnaire to the villages of the mentioned counties. The sent answers (37 in number) and samples of Easter eggs (pysankas) and finally my own investigations, mainly in the Kamyanetskyi district, served me as the basis for this research." [4]

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the most effective and relevant way of drawing the focus of attention of the Ukrainian community of Galicia to the pysanka making business has become the fairly mass replicated production of special thematic cards on the Easter theme, mainly with a central emphasis on pysankas or pysanka ornamental motifs (Fig. 2, 3). The initiative, launched by the National Academy of Sciences in the first third of the 20th century, gained widespread public resonance. A number of leading organizations in Galicia had the honor of participating in the financing of this socially important project, for example: the Ukrainian Pedagogical Society in Lviv, "Prosvita", "Native School (Ridna Shkola)" and even private donations from prominent representatives of the Ukrainian community (for example, F. Andrusevych) at their own expense ; therefore, on the reverse side of such an Easter card, it was indicated by which institution this circulation was financed (Figs. 4, 5). This was the era of the development of design and artistic photography, so a significant number of postcards had the form of photos with artistic compositions like a still life with photos of thematic groups of Easter eggs (pysankas) placed in three-dimensional compositions of baskets, folk ceramics and even the universally recognized products of the ceramic factory of Ivan Levinsky and Kolomyyska pottery school with folk motifs, mainly from the Hutsul region and Pokuttya (Fig. 6, 7).

Particularly successful were postcards with reproductions of paintings and works of art by famous Ukrainian artists: Olena Kulchytska, Anton Monastyrskyi, Hnat Koltsunyak, and other artists depicting Easter events: girls painting Easter eggs (pysankas), Easter eggs near the church, the Resurrection of Christ, and Easter attributes and symbols (Fig. 8, 9). This form of representation of Easter eggs  (pysankas) for the general Ukrainian public differed from the previously accepted academic approach to illustrating Easter eggs, as color supplements to scientific works in the form of well-structured, systematized tabular lithographs by thematic or regional groups. This difference is clearly visible on the example of the first published Ukrainian general encyclopedia in 3 volumes, published by the "Ridna Shkola" cooperative in the 1930s under the chief editorship of Ivan Rakovskyi (at the beginning of the 20th century, a referent of the Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). The text prepared by I. Hurhula about Easter eggs was supplemented with a table with ancient Easter egg artifacts from the Museum of the National Academy of Sciences - now the pysanka fund of the MEAC. [5] It is interesting that this was the last illustrative information about the oldest Easter eggs (pysankas) from the Museum of the National Academy of Sciences, in the format of a large fundamental encyclopedic work of the time (Fig. 10), which was widely advertised in the Ukrainian information space.

And only now, in 2024, in fact, almost 100 years after the last, pre-war, very popular publication about ancient museum pysankas from the collection of the NTSh, our museum project, with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, returns to a wide public space with the involvement of modern information technologies, fully highlighted data about the largest collected Easter eggs world of Ukraine. In the post- World War II period, for almost half a century, under the pressure of the "totalitarian machine" of the Soviet regime, the true information about the collection of Easter eggs from the collection of the NTSh was taboo and "closed under 10 locks" in the museum funds of the MEAC. Only sporadically, individual Easter eggs from the collection of the NTSh appeared several times in the Soviet information space, but without indicating their origin, such as 16 samples in the 1969 book edited by Ya. Zapasko "Essays on the History of Ukrainian Decorative Art". It is interesting that the 6-volume History of Ukrainian Art, which was very popular during the Soviet times, actually ignored this phenomenon of ancient Ukrainian culture due to the understandable ideological prejudices of the censors regarding the Easter content of the Ukrainian Easter egg (pysanka). Even during the time of Ukrainian independence, there were only sporadic publications illustrating certain monuments of Easter egg (pysanka) art from the collection of the NTSh in the MEAC funds, in particular, of certain regional groups from Halychyna (Galicia), Volyn, Podillya, Bukovyna and Naddnipryanshchyna regions in the book-album "Treasures of the Museum of Ethnography and Art Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine", Lviv, 2005 (pp. 46-53) and the album-catalogue "Ukrainian Folk Art", prepared by the Institute of Collecting Ukrainian Art Monuments at the NTSh edited by Ostap Lozynskyi in 2021 (pp. 47- 53). However, even these editions with sporadic data on Easter eggs (pysankas) from the MEAC stock collection did not have a systematic structured character.

The aim of our project is the digitization and popularization of Ukrainian Easter eggs (pysankas) as part of the national heritage of Ukraine from the funds of the Museum of Ethnography and Art Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine through digitization, scientific processing, creation of 3D models of selected monuments and their publication in the format of a web catalogue. The main results of the project are:

1). Fifty digital 3D models of selected Easter eggs (pysankas);

2). A website containing a web catalogue with images and information about the museum's 287 Easter eggs (pysankas), their genesis, symbolism and regional diversity;

3). Promotion of the project at various stages of its implementation with coverage of the created products in the national and regional media and scientific space; as well as in the form of 3 presentations: in the Lviv Regional Scientific Library, the Lviv National Academy of Arts, and the Museum of Ethnography and Art Craft of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences, which were visited by a total of more than 200 people.

A structured bilingual (Ukrainian and English) web catalogue of selected 287 Easter eggs was created, with 50 digital 3D models. This makes it possible to preserve the authenticity of the visual perception of the ancient Easter egg (pysanka) (primary colors, symbolism, and integrity of the theme). The implementation of the project will provide access to the interactive display of the microcosm of the Ukrainian Easter egg (pysanka) in the modern format of 3D models, supplemented with digital photographs, structured in a digital catalogue, which contributes to the general promoting of the national cultural heritage and ensures constant online access of a wide range of users to these objects of national heritage of Ukraine.

The visitors were the first users who tested the web catalogue with the possibility of sharing information among their circle of communication and in social networks. In addition, at the second and third presentations of the project, informational leaflets with artistic photos of Easter eggs from the MEAC collection were distributed, indicated QR codes gave more detailed information about the results of the project. The direct target audience of this product are pysanka makers, ethnographers, art historians, culturologists, and local historians; museum workers, reviewing the possibilities of digitizing stock collections and their interactive presentation with 3D models in the modern Internet space, and conducting informative master classes for the general public.

The indirect target audience of the project includes visitors of the web-site with a web catalogue of Easter eggs, users of social networks and YouTube channels, as well as students of humanitarian educational institutions, collectors, tour guides, public figures, public institutions working in the field of preservation and popularization of cultural heritage, folk artists, art communities, journalists, bloggers and gallerists.   

Also, the stakeholders of the project are the professional communities - scientific and educational institutions (primarily Lviv National Academy of Arts, Lviv College of Decorative and Applied Arts named after I. Trush) and public institutions in the field of culture and art (unions of folk and professional craftsmen), art schools, in particular Lviv Art School named after O. Novakivskyi. Digital representation of the Easter eggs (pysankas) in the form of 3D models has social value for the development of art programs for students of inclusive classes of art schools.

The methodology of our project within the framework of the UCF program is based on a systematic approach in the selection of the most historically significant and attractive monuments from a separate museum collection of Easter eggs (pysankas) in the amount of 250 units for 3D digital modelling, multifocal photographing, digitization and high-quality presentation in the modern cultural and museum Internet spaces.

The comparative-historical method was used for the selection based on the territorial principle with 2 chronological periods:

1. Monuments of the end of the 19th century. - before the beginning of the World War I.
2. Monuments of the interwar period until 1939 (the beginning of World War II).

All artifacts are analyzed in the context of ethnographic zoning based on pysanka making traditions of different regions (presented in the MEAC collection) with their own world of symbols, ornaments, and color.

 

Main selection criteria:

1. Time of creation (appearing in the museum collection). Priority is given to the oldest artifacts with their attributions by the following fields: year of creation, place (locality) of creation according to the principle: settlement, region; source of presenting to the collection, dating, material, execution technique, pigments, basic structure of signs and symbols, color.
2. Regional specifics (ethnographic region of origin). The selection of artifacts is based on the ritual morphological structure of decoration for each region with its variability of original samples and local key code structural elements, symbols and signs in the context of their archaic origin, historical heredity, durability, genesis, transformations and external influences.
3. The presence of a local original tradition. This is due to the presence of exclusively original separate groups of monuments from settlements of Halychyna, Polissya and Volyn, which allows to highlight the existence of an original local pysanka making center with its own distinctive world of symbols and traditions in a village or other settlement in the historical past, at least no later than the 19th century.
4. The state of preservation. The selection of well-preserved samples of Easter eggs for their proper processing and presentation, integral authenticity and aesthetics of the perception of ornamentation, color, technique of execution, preservation of the original form and morphological structure of the decor is of fundamental importance for the project. Damaged or faded Easter eggs with significant loss of original appearance are not taken into account.
5. The technique. Taking into account the emphasis of the project on the research and public coverage of prominent iconic monuments of the oldest part of the museum collection of Easter eggs, which were created before 1939, the selection of monuments is carried out according to the traditional techniques of execution of pysanka decoration: a) the most common wax method; b). less common painting with a brush ("paintings"/malyovanky); c) older, but less used way - "scratching" ("scratchers"/shkryabanky).
6. The ornamental motifs: a) solar; b) cross; c) geometrized; d) vegetable (phytomorphic); e) zoomorphic; f) anthropomorphic.    

 

In the process of selecting monuments of Pysanka art for the project, it was established that most of the artifacts from the collection of the NTSh in the fund collection of the MEAC are mainly formed in a multi-colored scale (their originally saturated color is partially lost, mainly due to fading); with a predominance of ornamental worlds with geometrized motifs in some regions of Ukraine with heavily emphasized symbolism (often of a solar content), and in others, as in the Hutsul region, with "jewellery" treated multi-structural and multi-level compositions, which usually frame emphasized zoomorphic images.       

The product of high significance for the museum environment of Ukraine obtained as a result of the project has a unique wider significance and even over time will not lose its relevance in the context of positioning our cultural heritage in the European museum and cultural space.

In general, during our current war of liberation for all spheres of existence of the national "I", this project will promote the unity of Ukrainians from different regions of our country, in particular, it will involve internally displaced citizens of Ukraine into a deeper understanding of such a phenomenon of national culture as pysanka.

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