Grace over the village of Potashnia

Thanks to a group of enthusiasts the small village of Potashnia has become famous far beyond the Vinnytsia region. It all started with the initiative of Prokip Kolisnyk, native of the village, and several famous artists whose works are presented at the world’s most prestigious art galleries. Today the building of an old school hosts a unique combination of an art gallery and a museum. This is not just a museum of local history, but one of the village’s culture. The opening of the gallery/museum became possible thanks to a concord of the artist and a patron Valerii Falileiev, who at that time was the director of the local agricultural company.

Every summer for seven years already artists, poets, and actors come to Potashnia. Painters come for a week or two, work plein-air, and then have vernissage where the village residents and visitors can see the work of masters.

Potashnia went from being an obscure village to becoming a symbol of art. According to the words of Kolisnyk himself, who has been living and working for many years in Slovakia now “It is not simply a territory, a populated area on the map of a region. Potashnia is an idea. It is freedom, first of all, artistic and world-view freedom. For seven years in a row the artist has been having an artistic dialog with nature and people that results in mutual enrichment and enlightenment. The participants of the plein-air workshops produce series of artistic expressions, picturesque paintings that inspire with their spontaneity, sincerity, kindness, and harmony.”

By now the residents of the village are familiar with Levko Vodylo,

Oles Solovei, Volodymyr Harbuz, and Vasyl Korchynsky. Other well-known Ukrainians visited this blessed land a number of times, among them are: writers, laureates of Taras Shevchenko Prize Vasyl Herasymiuk and Ihor Rymaruk, the deputy head of Vinnytsia International Association of Fellow-Countrymen Nina Hnatiuk, writer and actor Vasyl Dovzhyk. They all got together into an artistic circle Charunka. This year’s plein-air work and vernissage became a true celebration of color, word, and song.

COMMENTARIES

Vasyl KORCHYNSKY, artist:

“I am thankful to Prokip Kolisnyk, first of all because he brought me back to my native land. My native village of Vovchok is very close to Potashnia. There are not many of my family left there and that’s why I haven’t been to Vinnytsia region for quite a while, but thanks to the project ‘Potashnia – Charunka Podillia,’ I come here every year.”

Oles SOLOVEI, artist:

“Potashnia is a soul’s revelation, we all come here as if to bow our heads down in great respect. It is a symbol for us that links the past with the present and the future. Besides for a certain period of time we gather into an artistic circle not only to paint the local views but also to communicate with each other.”

Vasyl HERASYMIUK, writer:

“Art is always not just beyond any authority but also above it because it is the highest authority, it is eternal. While Prokip Kolisnyk and Potashnia are constant values which remain eternal regardless of who will be in power.”

Mykhailo RUD, head of the Potashnia Village Council:

“Opening the gallery/museum of Prokip Kolisnyk in the village gave us a possibility for the intellectual development of the local residents. People gladly come to the vernissage, which has already become a tradition. We hope that this tradition will continue in the years to come.

“Within the framework of the project ‘Potashnia – Charunka Podillia’ over 40 cultural and artistic events were held in this village, as well as in the raion centers in Bershada and Bereznehuvate, in Mykolaiv region, Kyiv, and other cities. Those events included plein-airs, exhibitions, meetings with artists, etc. One of the most memorable events was the presentation of the book by Kolisnyk about the project at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in January 2010.”

Prokip KOLISNYK, artist:

“Of course, it would be too difficult to carry out the project by our own forces. We organized it together with National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the Association of Ukrainian Writers, the International NGO Vinnytsia Association of Fellow Countrymen in Kyiv, the Charity Fund Ukraina-Incognita, and the National Union of Writers of Ukraine. Starting from August 3 till September 3 the exhibition ‘Potashnia — Charunka Podillia: Sim Lit’ was open in Kyiv at the National Museum of Literature. The best works of the project participants were presented there.”