The Ukrainian art of egg decorating has been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications.
“Today, at the 19th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is taking place in the capital of Paraguay, Asunción, the first international element from Ukraine together with Estonia Pysanka: Ukrainian Tradition and Art of Egg Decoration” was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” the publication says.
According to Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, this is our joint success, which demonstrates the strength of our unity.
“At the same time, the aggressor is destroying our culture, monuments, theaters, libraries, and museums. Our artists, the bearers of our living heritage, die fighting for our homeland. Their loss undermines the very heart of our identity. After all, living heritage does not exist without people. We prove that even in the darkest of times, we remain unbreakable. The inclusion of Ukrainian pysanka in the UNESCO Representative List is proof of this,” Mykola Tochytskyi said in a video message.
The work on the nomination began in 2017 after a meeting with the Ukrainian community in Estonia. It is based on three elements. Two of them are included in the National List of Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine - “Ukrainian Pysanka: Tradition and Art”, which unites communities from all regions of Ukraine, and “Tradition of Hutsul Pysanka”. Another element - “Ukrainian Pysanka, Tradition and Art of Decorating Easter Eggs” - is included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Elements of Estonia.
The Ministry of Culture notes that the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity contains 611 elements corresponding to 5 regions and 140 States Parties to the Convention. From Ukraine, this list includes “Petrykivka Decorative Painting as a Phenomenon of Ukrainian Ornamental Folk Art” in 2013, “The Tradition of Kosiv Painted Ceramics” in 2019, and “Ornek - Crimean Tatar Ornament and Knowledge about It” in 2021.