Sharing Ukrainian and Irish Cultural Heritage

In Sharing Ukrainian and Irish Cultural Heritage (32:50), Strokestown Park's Ukrainian Artist in Residence, Olena Kovaleyvych, reflects on her experiences of coming to Ireland as a result of the war in Ukraine and adapting the UNESCO protected folk art of Petrykivka painting in which she specializes to Irish natural settings. She explores the origins of Petrykivka painting in her native Dnipropetrovsk oblast, the painful history and rekindled memory of the Holodomor or Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 and some parallels with Ireland's Great Hunger, and the impact of the Russian invasion on the Ukrainian museum sector. She also recounts her personal story of fleeing the war and finding refuge and a warm welcome in Strokestown Park, where she has become the National Famine Museum's Artist in Residence. Olena Kovaleyvych shares her craft and reveals how she has been inspired by the natural symbols of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Ukraine such as the shamrock, Orange lily, and Sunflower to adapt and blend them into a new and vibrant Petrykivka painting style. She also expresses hope that the legacy of peace after prolonged conflict that she has discovered in Ireland and Northern Ireland will become a reality in Ukraine.

Sharing Ukrainian and Irish Cultural Heritage was created by the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park and Irish Heritage Trust in collaboration with Brownlow House, with support from the Department of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media 2023 Cooperation with Northern Ireland Fund.