Ukrainian artist Tetiana Udovika, a rocket engineer by training, has painted a wall at Cedar School in Dubai with traditional Petrykivka ornament. The story was reported by Emirates Today, the Ukrainian community outlet in the UAE.
It started with a talk. The school invited Udovika to speak to girls about choosing a career and about stereotypes of “women’s” and “men’s” professions, a subject a rocket engineer is well placed to address. At the end she showed some of her Petrykivka paintings and spoke about her own small business, eco-bags decorated with Ukrainian ornaments. The school’s management liked the work so much that Udovika was asked to paint the entire school wall in the Petrykivka style.
The wall now carries a large panel of flowers, leaves and symbolic birds typical of the style. The school, where two of Udovika’s children study, called the mural a special gift to its community: “not just a beautiful wall but a powerful reminder of the diversity, creativity and generosity of our school family,” the outlet quoted it as saying.
For the artist, the work is personal. Petrykivka painting is directly connected to her homeland, she says, as she comes from Dnipro. The village of Petrykivka, which gave the style its name, lies in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Background
Petrykivka painting is a Ukrainian decorative art from the village of Petrykivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region. In 2013 UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In the UAE, the art is also promoted by the Ukrainian Women’s Initiative, which runs masterclasses for international audiences, Ukrinform reported.
