Petrykivka claims UNESCO heritage

On September 23 representatives of the National Register of Records of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Book of Records registered the new achievement – the largest ornamental hand-made painting in our country. It is a bright floral frieze 120 meters long and 80 centimeters wide, that decorates white fence in the center of the village of Petrykivka, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The total area of the painting is 93 square meters. The biggest ornament in Ukraine was made from sketches of 13 craftsmen of Petrykivka painting and was monitored by them. Along with them 30 professional artist and 127 students of art schools participated in the creation of this project.

Art event in Petrykivka was held in the framework of the Ukraine’s initiative for obtaining the status of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO for the Petrykivka painting. The project is supported by the leaders of Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostiantyn Hryshchenko. This status along with international recognition can provide solid financial support. The opening of the ornamental frieze was dated to coincide with the ethnic fair-festival “Petrykivka Dyvotsvit” and the presentation of Petrykivka painting, which was attended by diplomats from nearly 20 countries. Together with young and experienced masters of Petrykivka painting diplomats took part in a master class of decorative painting. The foreigners were surprised with the technique, when the patterns are painted not only by using a fine brush made of cat’s hair, but also with fingers. It should be noted that special educational programs are implemented in kindergartens, schools, and universities in Dnipropetrovsk region. And at the beginning of the school year there lessons on Petrykivka painting will be held. In the next year it is planned to organize a series of Petrykivka ornamental art exhibitions in various countries of the world. In particular, in June 2013 a large scale exhibition will take place at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Indonesia Nining Suningsih Rochadiat expressed positive comments on her trip to Petrykivka. “Indonesia developed strong economic relations with Dnipropetrovsk region – we import steel from here. However, we hope that the relationship will develop in areas such as culture and tourism. I believe that Petrykivka painting has great chances of receiving the international status from UNESCO.”