A special-purpose fair
Christmas Arsenal is held in KyivSURPRISES FOR SMART CHILDREN
The fair was held at the National Art and Culture Museum Complex “Mystetsky Arsenal.” Children were walking among art fir-trees and riding deer swings, while adults were looking for presents for the winter holidays. Over 120 crafters presented their works at the Christmas Arsenal – there was a wide choice indeed. The visitors were distracted from the holiday shopping by Ukrainian carols performed by children’s and adult’s ensembles. “This is my first time on stage, I liked it a lot!” Nastia from ensemble Seven Sounds Seven Colors rejoices, “I sang a song about St. Nicholas. At first I was nervous, but later I got used to it.”
The fair presented many children’s publications which just came off prints. Writer Valentyna Vzdulska presented a picture-book A Journey of a Letter about Marta’s dearest wish, which according to the laws of a fairytale came true after many adventures, “Today books for readers under five are not always of good quality,” Valentyna Vzdulska considers, “People buy something in the underpass, and these books make one’s eyes pop out, because of poor printing quality. My colleagues and I want to create a series of high-quality books for the youngest readers. A Journey of a Letter is the first robin.”
THERE IS A FASHION FOR ETHNIC AND ECOLOGICAL
The connoisseurs of art and comfort liked the furniture painted by Ukrainian artists. For example, chairs decorated with crazy cats by Ivan Semesiuk, or a table with ornaments by Olena Pryduvalova. Next to these works there were pictures by famous artists Vladyslav Shereshevsky and Leonid Bernat. Marianna Dzhulai, who is a curator of this cultural-commercial project, says, “People buy mostly ceramic works and sculptures. The interest of Ukrainians in art is not smaller, but the sales are less active because of the hard time. These days many people are involved in creative work: they sew, carve something from wood. In crises this is the way their thirst of beautiful things is shown.” By the way, the organizers of Christmas Arsenal prepared over 60 master classes to satisfy this need.
Daryna SOROKA: “My friend and I, both on a maternity leave, paint plates. Now we have become fond of New Year’s themes: goats, carols, holidays. In autumn we created many patriotic items: plates with blue-and-yellow symbols or bears that lost their way in dill. Our kitchenware can be washed in a dish-machine and put into a microwave.”
Girls were crowding near stands with adornments, scarves, bags, and attire. They stood in a line to try on a milky serdak made of wool and hemp fabric. Khrystyna Patyk, who sews ecological clothes, explained, “Cannabis is a natural antibiotic with anti-allergic and antiseptic qualities. A person has a slight prickly sensation, because this material stimulates nervous receptors.” Apart from ethnic and ecological clothes, the masters presented pillows filled with hay and herbs, as well as house decorations with exquisite embroidery.
NEW YEAR “GOAT MANIA” AND SUGAR CASTLES
The stands of the Christmas fair were full of fragile and glittery things. Those were New Year’s decorations of intricate shapes and author’s kitchenware – so beautiful that I would grudge using it for eating. “My friend and I, both on a maternity leave, paint plates,” says crafter Daryna Soroka, “Now we have become fond of New Year’s themes: goats, carols, holidays. In autumn we created many patriotic items: plates with blue-and-yellow symbols or bears that lost their way in dill. Our kitchenware can be washed in a dish-machine and put into a microwave.”
Goats, the symbol of the next year, were “grazing” in every corner of the Christmas Arsenal: they were made of wood, cardboard, dough, and clay. So, the Illustrator Club Pictoric presented a calendar with pictures of goats, executed in various techniques by young Ukrainian artists. The artists created one more calendar during an open-air session in the Carpathians: every page has a different style, from abstract landscapes to a guide of medicinal herbs.
Confectioner Serhii Bilovus builds castles of caramel. The master uses only natural ingredients: sugar, water, natural colors and flavors. Sorrel and spinach color the caramel green, curcuma – yellow, charcoal – black, black carrot – red. The largest caramel house weighs 10 kilos, it was cooked for two days. “My hands trembled for two days after this,” Serhii Bilovus is chuckling. “Caramel is my favorite sweet stuff. I feel a flight of imagination when I boil it.” The natural colorants lose color in six months, but the fancy sweets can be stored up to three years.
EVERYONE WILL BE WARMED UP!
Charity is the leitmotif of this year’s Christmas fair in Arsenal. Here the money is raised for an orphanage near Debaltseve in Donetsk region. “This institution is in an awful condition, Ukrainian soldiers are practically taking care of it. The servicemen said that the children lack food and clothes: they are wearing sandals,” says director general of Mystetsky Arsenal Natalia Zabolotna, “We as well continue to gather things for servicemen and migrants. We already have clothes enough for 1,500 servicemen and 500 children in the east of Ukraine. People used to come to our place to enjoy art, now they come for charity. I think the attendance of the Arsenal has increased over the past year. People want to see something different from what is shown on TV.”
