“Mamais” are getting ready for a voyage

An auction in support of the Cossack chaika boat Spas was also held as part of the event. The masterminds of the “Open Sea” told The Day that this art, history, and marine project was a trans-European voyage on the Cossack wooden boat Spas, with the participation of renowned artists, musicians, photographers, writers, sculptors, cameramen, and historians. This joint project by the Foundation for ecotourism development “Vytoky” and the Association “Prolisky” aims at cooperation and communication of famed masters with young artists, as well as young artists’ exchanges during a unique voyage across the Black and Mediterranean Seas and into the Atlantic on the Cossack chaika boat, reconstructed according to historical blueprints of the 16th century.

As part of the Open Sea project, the boat and its crew will turn into a universal symbol of freedom of art, which is unrestricted by borders.

“If artists addressed the Cossack theme, they only produced replicas of historically themed reconstructions. The only, but very vivid, exception was the painting series “Cossack Mamai,” which clearly explains what unites artists and warriors: the spirit of liberty and freedom in both life choices and creative self-expression,” says artist and art critic Anatolii ZVIZHYNSKY. “Currently, a mixed collection of paintings by artists from Lviv, Kyiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk is on display. The paintings are put up for sale. The aim of the event is to contribute financially to the organization of the sea voyage.