Eng
Esp

Copyright © 2024 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Vyshyvanka Day: Ukrainians celebrate the day of the national embroidered shirt

byYuri Zoria
19/05/2017
2 minute read
Vyshyvanka Day: Ukrainians celebrate the day of the national embroidered shirt

On 18 May 2017, Ukrainians all over the world celebrated the day of the national embroidered shirt, or Vyshyvanka. The event, celebrated on the third Thursday of May, has turned into a global cultural diplomacy opportunity for the numerous Ukrainian communities around the world, and a national statement inside the country. The Vyshyvanka Day emerged as a flash mob not attached to any public holiday.

On this day Ukrainians wear vyshyvankas to demonstrate adherence to the idea of national identity. The day unites Ukrainians regardless of their gender, social status, religious beliefs or political opinions.

The holiday in Popasna, a frontline town in Luhansk Oblast, on May 18:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1674452666197603&id=100008986563990

Vyshyvanka Day in the city of Chernivtsi:

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen demonstrated his solidarity with Ukrainians:

On 14 May, Ukrainians held a vyshyvanka march in Rome:

Many events marking the Vyshyvanka Day are planned for the following weekend.

Vyshyvanka in history

Archeological discoveries in Ukraine indicate that embroidery has existed there since prehistoric times, it dates back to the Neolithic–Eneolithic Trypillian culture. The elements of ornaments used by Trypillians, Sarmatians, and Scythians are found even in the modern national embroidery.

Among the earliest are the finds dated to the 6th century, found in Cherkassy Oblast, one of the silver plates depicts a man dressed in long, wide patterned shirt with embroidery on the chest. The Ukrainian peasants wore the same clothing just a century ago.

Cloth embroidery was first inspired by faith in the power of protective symbols and later by aesthetic motives.

In a country with a history marked by foreign invasions, embroidery has been “symbolically linked to national identity and unity,” said Dr. Oksana I. Grabowicz, an anthropologist and research associate at the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University.

Vyshyvankas have been festal clothes for Ukrainians all over the world for a long time, nevertheless, Vyshyvanka Day emerged as a holiday not long ago.

Poetess Lesya Voronyuk told Ukrinform that the first Vyshyvanka Day was celebrated 11 years ago in the city of Chernivtsi, where she was a student at a local university. “I have come up with the idea when I noticed that not I alone but also other students often wear vyshyvankas attending classes. But it didn’t happen that all did it together. So I suggested to all one day gather at the university in embroidered shirts. For the first time several scores of students took part in the event,” said Lesya Voronyuk.

Read more:

 

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!

To suggest a correction or clarification, write to us here

You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter

Please leave your suggestions or corrections here



    Euromaidan Press

    We are an independent media outlet that relies solely on advertising revenue to sustain itself. We do not endorse or promote any products or services for financial gain. Therefore, we kindly ask for your support by disabling your ad blocker. Your assistance helps us continue providing quality content. Thank you!

    Related Posts