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‘Pysanky For Peace’ and the Ukrainian Easter Egg’s Eternal Message of Hope

They’re called pysanky, elaborately decorated Easter eggs with a tradition and story older than even the country of Ukraine where they originated.

The creation of a pysanka is as wonderous a process as is the finished egged, especially considering it’s done not on a hardboiled egg like most Easter eggs but on a hollow eggshell. Depending on the complexity and detail of the pattern, one pysanka can take upwards of twenty hours or more to complete.

Today these fragile, stunningly intricate works of art are connecting Ukrainians with each other and the world, giving them comfort, a sense of home, and a bit of joy in the face of genocide.  Perhaps this is why pysanky have been revered and beloved by Ukrainians as a symbol of hope for thousands of years.

But this year, pysanky are not only raising the spirits of Ukrainians but much needed funds for relief efforts in their war-ravaged country, more on that later.

A report on NPR’s “All Thing’s Considered,” explains how this tradition lives on and hopes to make a difference in the humanitarian war effort.

Photo: A pysanky-making gathering in Round Lake, N.Y. on Mar. 3. ‘Pysanky for Peace’ via NPR

 

Pysanky for Peace is raising funds for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine by having artists create 100,000 beautiful pysanky that donors can sponsor on a sliding scale.  From their website,

“It is said that the Hutzuls–Ukrainians who live in the Carpathian Mountains of Western Ukraine–believe that the fate of the world depends upon the pysanka.

As long as the egg decorating custom continues, the world will exist.

Though pysanka are typically made at Easter time, it is with this folk-tale in mind, and the unfolding atrocities happening in Ukraine with the current invasion of Russia – the Pysanky for Peace Project came to be.”

A few of the Pysanky available for sponsorship. Photo via “Pysanky for Peace” website Gallery

 

To support their efforts, click this link to

Sponsor A Pysanky 

 

For more information and other ways to support them visit PysankyForPeace

Follow them on Twitter @Pysanky4Peace

Instagram @pysankyforpeace 

Information of the Wenham Museum Pysanky Exhibit in MA  HERE

Information on the Ukrainian Institute in New York City pysanky exhibit HERE

 


(Main image courtesy of Ukrainian Institute website)

 

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