About the project
A great love for Ukraine, gratitude to the Kherson region, which sheltered me and my son during forced migration and a complete inability to sit back, prompted me to start this project. I have a desire to show the world the beauty of my country.
I created textile wall panels – copies of “the stone embroideries of Nova Kakhovka”, in the technique of carpet embroidery with punch needles. Each panel is handmade. From September 2022 to August 2023, I managed to embroider 15 panels. All textile wall panels are ready for exhibitions.
About “the stone embroideries of Nova Kakhovka”
Nova Kakhovka is the young town in the Kherson region in southern part of Ukraine. It’s an integral monument of architecture, urban planning, and monumental art.
The town was founded in 1952 during the construction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the North Crimean Canal. The “Water to the Crimea” flooded the Cossack Siches and Crimean Tatar fortresses, churches and mosques, gardens and settlements.
Most of the houses in Nova Kakhovka were two- and three-story, with tile or slate roofs, like each other, gray and indistinct.
To change these gloomy facades, a group of artists and architects was sent to the town, among whom was the Ukrainian artist Hryhorii Dovzhenko.
Hryhorii Dovzhenko belonged to the famous school of Mykhailo Boichuk, which was repressed by the Soviet totalitarian system in 1937. Under pressure and the threat of arrest, Hryhorii Dovzhenko moved away from the forbidden genres and plunged into the world of monumental ornamentation.
Trying to compensate for the losses caused by the flood, in 1953-54 Hryhorii Dovzhenko developed thousands of ornaments for the walls of residential and public buildings in Nova Kakhovka. These ornaments included Ukrainian traditional and baroque, Cossack and oriental. Together with Hryhorii Dovzhenko, his son Taras and representatives of the Boychuk school, in particular Oleksandr Myzin, worked on the creation of ornaments.
Hryhorii Dovzhenko patented his own technique of “carving on raw plaster with painting based on synthetic PVC resins”. Using this technique, he created more than 2000 m2 of decorative panels in Nova Kakhovka. For each house with “embroidery”, Hryhorii Dovzhenko developed his own unique ornament. He always considered many factors: the location of the house in the neighbourhood, its purpose, the colour of the facade and natural light.
Based on Hryhorii Dovzhenko’s sketches, unique ornaments, both sculptural and carved, as well as authentic panels were created and became the decoration of houses and changed the city.
Most of the panels have the fastidious floral ornament associated with Ukrainian contemporary art and folk embroidery: flowers, grapes, ears of grain, vases, kumantsi, “trees of life”, etc. The artists put a multi-coloured base and the pattern resembled a white weave.
According to memories, people who came to Nova Kakhovka were amazed: all the houses were white, there was a lot of greenery and flowers, and ornaments shone. Many people said that the town looked like it was covered in lace.
However, Hryhorii Dovzhenko’s monumental work in Nova Kakhovka was not recognized by the authorities at that time. After the 60s, the ornamental panels were actually leveled by monotonous whitewashing and forgotten. Over the years, both the houses and the decorations began to deteriorate.
Thanks to the work of local activists, Hryhorii Dovzhenko’s heritage was given the new lease of life after 2010. Volunteers restored the ornaments, took care of their preservation and managed to stop their destruction.
The ornamental panels are now a well-known symbol of southern Ukraine – “the stone embroideries of Nova Kakhovka”.
On February 28, 2022, Nova Kakhovka was supposed to celebrate its 70th anniversary.
But…
On February 24, 2022, russia unjustifiably attacked Ukraine. Explosions, rockets, tanks, artillery, bombs from airplanes – horror, destruction, death… Nova Kakhovka is temporary occupied. People are disappearing. They are exploding on mines. Shell explosions destroy houses.
On June 6, 2023, Nova Kakhovka and the Kherson region were flooded after the russian military committed ecocide by blowing up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, which supplied water to the southern region of Ukraine.
Acknowledgments:
I sincerely thank Rada and Plamen Ivanov, Bulgarians with big and sincere hearts, who gave me and my son a roof over our heads, supported my carpet embroidery practice, showed great kindness, openness and understanding. This is extremely valuable, and I feel deeply grateful.
Thank to Erre Gandarela, ceramic artist from Portugal, for his support and help in implementing the project. Without the high-quality Portuguese embroidery needles, this project wouldn’t be possible.
Thanks to Kate Malone, M.B.E, a British ceramic artist, for her moral and financial support, for her sympathy and interest in the project.
Thanks to Minister of Culture of Bulgaria Krastyu Krastev and his wonderful team for supporting and organizing the first exhibition of the project.
Thanks to the Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria for their support, trust, and assistance in organizing the first exhibition events of the project.
Thanks to Olena Koceva, the head of the “Mother Ukraine” SUOB, Bulgaria, for effective support, confidence in implementing the project and the endless energy that she shares with others.
Thanks to the NGO “Nova Kakhovka Society of Cultural Heritage Protection” for the provided photos and informational materials.