“Each embroidered towel conceals God’s initiative”

We enter the room and stop still, astonished by the innumerable embroidered pieces. They are everywhere, on the walls, on old low wooden stools, and on painted chests. As she walks in, Svitlana Kytova makes a sign of the cross to the four sides. “This is how I say hi to them,” she says smiling. Kytova is the director of the Embroidery Museum at the Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University in Cherkasy. The museum is the oldest of its kind in. For Kytova, a professional interest in embroidery has grown into a cause of her life.

The museum has a collection of half a thousand embroidered towels from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Pol­ta­va, and Kirovohrad oblasts. They can be merry and sad, festive and plain. Kytova cherishes all of her “wards,” since each has its particular history, which ended up in the mu­seum, and a unique, individual soul, open to those who can read it.

FROM DOOR TO DOOR, BUYING EMBROIDERIES

“I got my degree in linguistics at the Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute. However, ethnography had been my old-time attraction. My first doctoral thesis was titled Calendar and Ritual Folklore of Volhynian Polissia. My academic interest in embroidery started with a realization of it as a most living genre. After all, embroidery is part and parcel of everyone’s everyday life. I felt that I needed knowledge in the areas of archeology, ornamentalistics, ethnography, history of culture, and even religious studies. All this helped me write the book Polotniany litopys Ukrainy (Ukraine’s Chronicles on Linen). Ten years ago, I defended my second doctoral theses, Semantics of Originality in Ukrainian Embroidered Towels. I came to realize that embroidered towels should not only be stu­died, they must be read. Each of them is special for me, due to the information encoded in the embroidery.”

Curiously, almost every item on the museum’s exposition (which also includes ancient embroidered shirts, vests, and household utensils) is a result of thorough search across the villages of the Middle Dnipro.

“I would take with me brown bread, butter, and other food that was then in short supply. When I came into a house, I would put it all on the table, greet the owners, and ask them to show me around. I mostly asked them to sell me some old things. Then I would not hag over the price. People were amazed: look at her, she will buy some rubbish.”

Sometimes students, colleagues, friends, or just ordinary citizens join the ranks of “stalkers.” On Kytova’s desk we can see a huge package, which arrived from Dnipropetrovsk oblast. It turns out that it was sent by a 84-year-old lady, who asks to keep her grandmother’s embroidered towels.

“So I will. You know, I am no collector, though this is quite a collection. A collector makes money out of their hobby. I simply love it,” says Kytova, leaning against an ancient chest. The chest squeaks, and Kytova shakes her head in reproach.

EMBROIDERED TOWELS ARE ALWAYS LOADED WITH SACRAL MEANINGS

“I don’t like to hear people say that embroidered towels combine some elements of heathenry, and some of Christianity. Since each embroidered piece was well-meant, by default it conceals God’s encoded initiative. If you remember the Old Testament and Exodus, they mention an ancient Jewish temple, the Tabernacle, which was de­corated with embroidery,” says Kytova.

Indeed, as you examine the mu­seum’s collection of towels, you mostly see the images of churches, crosses (mostly Greek or Latin), and traditio­nal phrases like “Christ Is Risen” or “God Bless You.”

“Women most typically embroidered the initial letters of the words ‘mother’ (or Mary), ‘God,’ and ‘creed.’ They would refresh their embroideries three times a year, before Easter, Christmas, and Whit Sunday. Besides, the towels carry numerous sacral signs, telling the life story of a certain person, their worries and problems,” muses Kytova. Then she suggests we come have a closer look at the embroidery on the towels. So we also suggest that you take part in this joint “reading” of the embroidered towels, using the photos and verbal description of the encoded information.

FINALLY

The visit to the museum raises a rhetoric question – but very important, in my view: how can we preserve this embroidered heritage? “Honestly, I don’t know,” Kytova hopelessly raises her arms. “I cannot take even a single piece home. They are sacred to me. By the way, we often have visitors, mostly girl students, who come here to choose a pattern for wedding towels or shirts for their fiances, so this is how the tradition keeps living.”

Walking out of the museum, I suddenly realize that I am leaving a temple. A little temple of the Ukrainian nation, where each embroidered towel is like a Gospel, filled with feelings, wishes, emotions, philosophy and, which is the most important, a little bit of someone’s soul.

COMMENTARIES

The visit to the museum suggests a question: how can we preserve the embroidered heritage of Cherkasy?

Ihor POHRIBNY, Ph.D. (Philology), associate professor, director, the Academic and Research Institute of Philology and Social Communications at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University, Cherkasy:

“The museum has one advantage, being housed by the University (namely, the Institute of Ukrainian Philology and Social Communications). In fact, it is a workshop for our students. Our curriculum includes a separate practical training course in Ukrainian folklore or Ukrainian studies for philology students, and this is where they can have it. As a matter of fact, the museum exhibits were collected during such research expeditions across the country.

“The fact that the museum is si­tuated at the university does not hinder excursions for anyone, who would wish to see its exhibits. If the Museum of Embroidered Towels were granted an official status of the municipal or oblast museum, it would be good for the collection, since the museum would count as an individual unit with an approved staff. So far, it functions on voluntary basis, and is used as a training center for students.”

Vitalii MASNENKO, Ph.D. (History), professor, chair of history and ethnology of Ukraine at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University, Cherkasy:

“It will be no exaggeration to say that the Museum of Embroidery has a considerable value, due to the vast collection of towels and other artifacts. Towels, traditional dress, icons, household items are all vivid examples of Ukraine’s spiritual and material culture. The collection is unique, and this is why it is so valuable.

“Besides having sorted out everything and written several books, based on the materials of this collection, Svitlana Kytova has also written a successful doctoral thesis on the subject. Of course, this is useful for the University, as it allows to raise the academic and artistic standards of our school. By the way, the Museum of Embroidered Towels is not the only mu­seum at the University. We also have a very interesting museum of archeology, with a rich collection. Its owner, Mykhailo Syvolap, is also at a loss and does not know what he can do with it. Thus, we have two similar situations. Maybe, both museums could be somehow united. The city and the University might make it into a joint project.”

Serhii ODARYCH, mayor of Cherkasy (answering a question on his Facebook page):

“The city administration is prepared to support this museum, but there has never been a need for it, the university has always managed on its own.”

By Viktoria KOBYLIATSKA, Cherkasy; Nina POLISHCHUK, Den’s Summer School of Journalism