On-site event

Saturday, 2.04.2022
Group 1: 11.00-14.00
Group 2: 15.00-18.00

Sunday, 3.04.2022
Group 1: 15.00-18.00

Mezen is like writing. The symbols are like letters which create words, and words make up a story. Mezen was established in the times when there was no paint. The colors were created from natural ingredients: clay, which gave us red, and coal, which gave us black. If white was needed, limestone was used. During a mezen workshop we use only two colors: red and black. It is a simple technique of painting which refers to nature and life, the sky, the earth, and what is between them. This is the shortest description of what mezen really is. It is easy to learn this technique when we get to know the symbols, the elements which are later combined to create a painting which is put on wood, utility items, or cardboard.

Mezen is a popular folk art with eastern roots. It is especially popular in the Russian-speaking part of Ukraine. The characteristic red spots which are crossed by black lines turn abstract shapes into wild animals, domesticated animals, or repeating patterns.

Lolita Igorivna-Wrzeszczynska is a folk artist from Kyiv. She is an expert in traditional techniques of drawing: the Ukrainian petrykivka and the Eastern mezen. She learned these techniques in an art school in Kyiv back in the times of the USSR. She taught painting in a school in an ecological settlement “Dolina Dzherel” in the village of Motyzhin. This is where she was planning to stay and survive the Russian aggression on Ukraine. When this turned out to be impossible, she escaped to Poland. About her escape to Silesia, Lolita says: “Thanks to the care, kindness, and huge support of all Poles whom we have met in this difficult time, we are alive and we  have a roof over our heads. I am very happy that there is a growing interest in Ukrainian art and I am hoping that this meeting will bring you all joy and satisfaction from your creative work.”

For more information on the artist, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/lolitawrzeczynska

We will work on paper and cardboard. If you want to decorate a wooden utility item that has a smooth, unpainted surface (a cutting board, a spoon, etc.), please bring it with you.

Duration: 3 hours
Cost: 100 zł
Reservations required: zapisy@galiciajewishmuseum.org

In Ukrainian with translation to Polish.