2019 Pysanka Exhibition: A Celebration of Pysanky

Within the Ukrainian community, pysankarstvo (the art of writing Easter eggs) is typically a seasonal tradition, but within the broader arts community, it has evolved into a fine art form, allowing for exponential creativity on a unique three-dimensional canvas — the egg!

In 2019, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch hosted a 4-day juried Pysanka Exhibition, as an opportunity for pysanka artists to showcase their innovation and creativity, and exposing the public to many new pysanka artists and styles. As Canadians of Ukrainian descent, the Museum is very proud to see a folk art rooted in our heritage evolve into an art form with such diverse creative and technical possibilities.

On display were 46 works from 24 North American artists. The entries in this collection represented several techniques and media: traditional wax-resist method, acid-etched, raised-wax, carved, painted, washed, and mixed technique. Artistic styles varied from traditional folk motifs to fairy tales and biblical themes; designs rooted in ancient Trypillian civilization or inspired by African and Native arts, stained glass and fine porcelain. Ten different types of eggs were presented in this exhibition, ranging from parakeet to ostrich, and dark green emu eggs.

All pysanky were scored based on design & composition, quality & technique, and overall impression by a jury of five esteemed judges from the Ukrainian and Toronto arts communities. Additionally, visitors were encouraged to vote for their favourite pysanky both in-person and online, determining the People’s Choice winners in each category.

The winners were announced at an Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 15. Awards were presented by our sponsors from Ukrainian Credit Union and Ukrainian EggCessories.

To view all the entries, download the Exhibition Catalogue here. Scroll down to see the winning pysanky.