From the Bush to the Harvest

Cultural project “From the Bush to the Harvest”

Inari Tenko – paints, writes poetry and prose, makes dolls and origami.

The song is called “Fern Flower (Canvas)”. This version is still a work in progress.

On the night when nature blossoms in all its strength, and water and fire join in a magical dance, the Department of Culture of the National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy (CNAUI) invites everyone to celebrate Ivan Kupala.

This ancient Ukrainian midsummer festival, full of symbols of purification, love and unity with nature, will come to life in Italy this year, bringing the Ukrainian community and friends of Ukraine together around a shared bonfire.

On a shore decorated with wreaths of wild flowers, Kupala bonfires will be lit, folk songs will ring out, and girls will set their wreaths afloat on the water — as a sign of hope, peace and new beginnings.

The Ivan Kupala festival is not only a tribute to tradition but also a living meeting of cultures, where the Ukrainian soul opens up to the world through beauty, music and shared joy.

The organisers stress that this year’s celebration has a special meaning — it symbolises the unity of Ukrainians in Italy, the strength of the community and faith in a bright future.

Italian friends and representatives of local communities and cultural institutions will also join the event, to share in the warmth of Ukrainian traditions together.

An invitation to join the project “Ivan Kupala: Traditions That Unite”

“From the Bush to the Harvest: Seasonal Rites Between Ukraine and Italy”

An open art project and an online gallery of creative works within the project.

The Ivan Kupala festival is one of the oldest Ukrainian traditions, symbolising the unity of people with nature, the beauty of folk customs and the power of cultural memory. Today it is especially important to preserve and promote Ukrainian cultural heritage, not only in Ukraine but also among Ukrainian communities abroad.

We invite children, young people and adults to join the art project “Ivan Kupala: Traditions That Unite” and to present, through their own creative work, their personal vision of the Ivan Kupala traditions.

What does this festival mean to you? What do you associate it with?

📅 Project dates: 4–28 June 2026.

Until 20 June 2026 you can send in scans of your creative works.

Once submissions close, the associations Gioia and Un Ponte di Colori will create a virtual gallery on the website of the National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy and organise a vote on social media.

📅 On 28 June 2026 the best works will be presented in the project’s online gallery, in video presentations and on the organisers’ social media, and may also be recommended for international cultural events and exhibitions.

International spring–summer cultural project and festival “From the Bush to the Harvest: Calendar Festival Traditions Between Italy and Ukraine”

20–27 June • Silvi, Abruzzo, Italy

Between the Adriatic Sea and the green hills of Abruzzo, a unique cultural space comes to life: an international festival of calendar traditions that brings Ukrainian and Italian heritage together in one week of creativity, learning, rituals and summer holidays.

The “From the Bush to the Harvest” project is a journey through time and culture, in which participants discover the spring–summer cycle of rites of two peoples: from the green rituals of the Kust (“the Bush”, a spring rite in which a girl is dressed in greenery) to the magic of Kupala and the closing harvest traditions.

🌿 The festival atmosphere

A week in Silvi combines a cultural programme, academic meetings, workshops and ritual re-enactments with seaside relaxation, entertainment, excursions and warm company.

Here everyone, adult or child, can feel part of a great cultural story.

Open to everyone

• adults
• children
• organised groups (accompanying adults required)

🏡 Accommodation

A choice of comfortable apartments:

• 2 bedrooms + 1 bathroom — up to 4 people
• 3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms — up to 5 people

Group terms:

– for 30 people, 1 place free of charge (29+1)

🍽️ The price includes

• participation in the “From the Bush to the Harvest” programme
• three meals a day
• swimming pool
• beach
• entertainment programme (morning exercises, contests, performances)
• excursions in the surrounding area
• certificate of participation

💶 Price

• €440 / 7 nights
• €55 / 1 day

Discounts

• children under 3 — –50%
• children under 7 — –30%
• groups of 30 people — 1 place free of charge

🚍 Getting there from Ukraine

• ✈️ By air: Kraków — Pescara (PSR) or other options
• 🚌 Scheduled coaches from Ukraine
• 🚐 A shared coach can be arranged for Ukrainian delegations (approximately €120 one way)

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

The festival is more than a holiday. It is

• a chance to show your talents
• to deepen your knowledge of traditions
• to join an international cultural community
• to feel the power of rites that unite generations
• to spend a week on the Adriatic coast

Athletes may be able to join local matches and competitions.

Contacts

Natalia Nevalenna – Vice-President of the Gioia Association, +393931892818

Olha Vakulich – project coordinator, +393278462260, o.vakulich@congressouait.com

For any questions and for bookings, please write in the group (link) or send a private message to the organisers (Olha and Natalia)

The Ivan Kupala festival in Ukraine

Before the change in the date of Ivan Kupala (6–7 July). The current dates are 23–24 June.

The Ivan Kupala festival was one of the most eagerly awaited celebrations of the year for children and young people alike. On the evening of 7 July, girls would gather in their neighbourhoods and hamlets with flowers picked in the fields, to weave wreaths and sing traditional summer songs.

The boys, for their part, had to find a willow or a large willow branch and carry it to the river, if there was one nearby, or to a wide open meadow. There the branch was driven into the ground as if it were a real tree growing on that spot.

Then the girls would form a circle and begin decorating the branches with flowers, nettles and multicoloured ribbons, singing and dancing to traditional songs. Once the decorating was done, the tree became the boys’ prize: they tried to steal it or to stop it from being plunged into the water. A kind of contest broke out between the boys and the girls, full of jokes and merry pranks.

Later, when the girls reached the river, they set their wreaths afloat. According to folk belief, the direction in which a wreath floated showed where a girl’s future groom would come from. If the wreath lingered by the bank, it meant the girl would stay in her home village. If it floated further on, it was believed she would not marry that year.

Sometimes the boldest boys tried to catch their sweetheart’s wreath straight away. They would leap into the water, retrieve the wreath and wear it on their chest, thereby showing their wish to marry.

After the decorated willow had also been plunged into the water, the boys had to destroy it: they broke off the branches and trampled them underfoot, showing off their strength and vigour. The elders used to say that if you carried pieces of this willow to the vegetable garden or the field and laid them on the ground where vegetables grow, the harvest would be plentiful.

Thus the syncretism of the Christian beliefs linked to the Ivan Kupala festival and ancient pagan traditions has survived to this day. These customs help us understand important aspects of folk culture: the bond between people and nature, the culmination of the yearly cycle and the special role of young people as bearers of the future.

This example of the tradition was recorded in 2012–2017 in the Rivne and Mlyniv districts of Rivne Oblast – by the folklorist Olha Vakulich

Drawing competition

Together with the associations Gioia and Un Ponte di Colori and the Department of Culture of the National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy, we present a drawing competition for the Ivan Kupala festival, with Ukrainians from Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Germany and Italy taking part!

Kupala Night

Liudmyla Horbachyk · Sambir / aged 36

The canvas carries the viewer to the moment a new day is born — the dawn of Ivan Kupala, when nature holds its breath awaiting a miracle and age-old traditions bind people to the land, to memory and to hope.

At the centre of the composition, three young girls in white robes lead a Kupala round dance — a symbol of life, unity and the continuity of Ukrainian traditions. Their figures are full of light, purity and faith in the future. Yet around them other, almost weightless figures emerge. They resemble shadows of the morning mist, but at the same time they embody the innocent souls of children whose lives were cut short by the war. This is a memory of those who will never again greet their dawn, weave a Kupala wreath or join the festive round dance.

The ground beneath the girls’ feet is covered in crimson tones that echo the colour of wild poppies. But these red accents carry a deeper meaning: they symbolise the pain and the sacrifices that the Ukrainian land has borne. Weary of war, it keeps the memory of every life lost, yet despite everything it goes on giving birth to beauty, light and hope.

The painting brings together the ancient Ivan Kupala rite and the present-day reality of Ukraine. The war has changed the way we experience our festivals: today even the brightest traditions are inseparably intertwined with memory, prayer and a special sense of the value of human life. Yet it cannot destroy the very essence of tradition — its power to unite generations, to keep memory alive and to give hope.

It is a story about life that is stronger than darkness, about memory that does not fade, and about the belief that after the longest night, dawn will surely come.

Technique and materials

Materials: canvas, acrylic, oil, plaster.

Star of Kupala

Mariia Shkabierina · Zaporizhzhia / aged 11 · Votes: 14

In my work I wanted to convey the beauty and magic of the Ivan Kupala festival. The central image of the composition is the Kupala wreath — one of the best-known symbols of the festival, embodying life, harmony, beauty, hope and the continuity of traditions. The bright star at its centre symbolises the sun, the energy of life and a person’s inner light.

The work was inspired by the Ukrainian folk traditions of wreath weaving and reverence for nature, by the Kupala rites and by faith in the power of goodness, love and the spiritual bond between generations.

Technique: decorative painting, mixed media.

Materials: watercolour paper, watercolours, oil pastels.

Ivan Kupala

Violeta Chornomorets · Rivne / aged 13 · Votes: 5

I wanted to show how girls and boys celebrate Ivan Kupala, setting wreaths afloat on the water and leaping over the bonfire. I was inspired by the atmosphere of this festival, when evening falls, a great fire is burning and everyone gathers together.

Watercolours, pencil, paper.

A Cherished Wish

Anastasiia Romaniv · Horodnytsia / aged 13 · Votes: 9

In my work I portrayed one of the best-known traditions of the Ivan Kupala festival — setting a wreath afloat on the water as a symbol of hope, purity and dreams of a happy fate. The wreath, woven from wild flowers, embodies the beauty of nature, youth and the unbreakable bond between people and their native land. The candle on the wreath is a symbol of light, love and the path through life that a person seeks among the waves of fate. The work was inspired by Ukrainian folk customs, reverence for nature and belief in the magical power of Kupala Night.

The work is painted in gouache on paper in the technique of decorative painting. Colour and stylised plant motifs create the image of a Kupala wreath on the water, conveying the atmosphere of the Ukrainian folk festival of Ivan Kupala.

“Ukrainian Soul” and “Motanka” (a traditional rag doll)

Anastasiia Razina · Khmelnytskyi / aged 12 · Votes: 11

In my work I wanted to convey the beauty of Ukrainian traditions and love for our native culture. I was inspired by the Ivan Kupala festival, which symbolises the unity of people with nature, purity, hope and goodness. Through the image of a Ukrainian girl, flowers and folk symbols, I tried to show the richness of Ukrainian customs, their beauty and the importance of preserving them for future generations.

Technique: the drawing is done in markers and felt-tip pens in a decorative style.

Materials: paper, alcohol markers.

The Night of Ivan Kupala

Taisiia Saliman · Varash / aged 12 · Votes: 5

The mystery of Kupala Night and the magic of the fern flower inspired this landscape. The fern flower and the magic of the night are powerless before the sun, but the beauty of nature is invincible.

Acrylic.

“Where Kupala Blooms”

Valentyna Tyshkun · Bila Krynytsia / aged 44 · Votes: 21

The painting was inspired by the annual ethnographic event “Kupalo v zeleni buialo” (“Kupalo Ran Riot in the Greenery”), held every year in our Bila Krynytsia community.
In my work I sought to convey the atmosphere of the Ivan Kupala festival as the unity of people with nature, as joy, youth and faith in the power of tradition. The central figures are a girl and a woman in festive folk dress, dancing by the water. This dance is directly associated with the ritual culture of Ivan Kupala, in which dance, song and collective rites were essential parts of the celebrations. The Kupala rites are bound up with water, flowers and maidenly beauty. That is why the heroines are shown on the shore of a lake or river — one of the festival’s main symbols, embodying purification, renewal and the source of life. It is by rivers and lakes that the Kupala festivities take place.
I paid particular attention to one element of the costume: the headscarf. The headscarf was an indispensable part of festive dress; it emphasised the beauty and status of a girl or a young woman, and also served as powerful protection against illness and evil spirits. A headscarf decorated with floral motifs symbolises nature in full bloom and the vital force of summer. In this dance the headscarf becomes an extension of the dancer’s movement, creating an image of lightness and flight and recalling the ripple of water and wind.
It was not only young girls who took part in the Kupala rites, but also married women, mothers and the older members of the community. They sang ritual songs, led round dances, prepared festive food, gathered healing herbs and passed on to the younger generation their knowledge of traditions and folk customs.
That is why the painting shows a girl and a woman. It is from mother to daughter, from the older generation to the younger, that folk culture is handed down through dance.
For me this painting is not only a depiction of a single festival but also a symbol of the preservation of cultural heritage, of the bond between generations and of respect for traditions that continue to bring people together today.
The dynamic poses of the women create a sense of human unity. This echoes the main idea of the project: to show how shared rites, festivals and traditions forged a close-knit community and carried cultural memory from generation to generation.
The idea of the painting is directly linked to the concept of the project “From the Bush to the Harvest: Seasonal Rites Between Ukraine and Italy”. Its central artistic image is the headscarves, which combine the symbolism of Ukrainian ritual culture with the idea of intercultural dialogue.
On the one hand, if the two headscarves are seen together, the white one with red flowers symbolises feminine energy, love, beauty and the continuation of the family line, while the blue one with yellow flowers stands for the life-giving union of water and sun, which hold a special place in the Kupala rites. Together they embody the harmony of people, nature and tradition — one of the key ideas of the Ivan Kupala festival.
On the other hand, the colours of the headscarves contain a subtle hint of the national colours of Ukraine and Italy. This motif is not a literal depiction of state symbols but rather an artistic way of highlighting the cultural bond between the two peoples. The painting becomes a symbol of a dialogue of cultures, in which each side keeps its own identity while finding shared values in reverence for nature, family traditions, community unity and respect for cultural heritage.
United in a shared dance, the women’s figures can be read as a metaphor for Ukraine and Italy — two peoples joined by the wish to preserve their customs, rites and spiritual heritage and to pass them on to the generations to come.

Technique: acrylic painting.

Materials: brushwork on stretched canvas, varnished.

Kupala Dawn: A Reflection of Love

Anton Kravchenko · Dnipro / aged 31 · Votes: 11

This painting is the tender whisper of Kupala Night carried onto canvas. It was born of the magic of the festival, of dreams of love and of the wonderful traditions that bind us to nature. While I was working on it, I thought about divination with wreaths, about the enchanted fern flower and about a deep sense of unity. A pair of graceful storks, their heads bowed towards each other, became the main symbol for me. They embody fidelity, tenderness and the birth of a new family, which echoes so harmoniously the Kupala ideas of fertility and love. The colourful, almost fairy-tale sky with its pink and orange hues creates a mystical and at the same time wonderfully gentle mood. And the clear mirror of the water reflecting this beauty symbolises hope and renewal. This painting is not just a landscape but my personal prayer for love and for the miracle we seek in life.

Technique: oil painting.

Materials: canvas.

Il Salto Purificatore: Il Fuoco di Kupala — The Purifying Leap: The Fire of Kupala.

Oleksii Maslov · Horenka / aged 47 · Votes: 4

This work captures the moment when the body becomes spirit and the earth touches the sky. At the centre of the canvas, a young man in a traditional embroidered shirt (vyshyvanka) defies gravity in a liberating leap over a monumental bonfire. This is the ancient rite of Ivan Kupala: an act of courage that burns away the past to purify the soul. The vibrant heat of the flames, rendered in energetic and passionate brushstrokes, contrasts with the cool serenity of the river in the background, where a wreath of flowers floats — the silent keeper of wishes and destinies. A work that celebrates the eternal triumph of youth, of light and of the unbreakable bond between humankind and nature.
Quest’opera cattura l’istante in cui il corpo si fa spirito e la terra tocca il cielo. Al centro della tela, un giovane uomo vestito con la tradizionale camicia ricamata (vyshyvanka) sfida la gravità in un salto liberatorio sopra un falò monumentale. È il rito ancestrale di Ivan Kupala: un atto di coraggio che brucia il passato per purificare l’anima. Il calore vibrante delle fiamme, dipinto con pennellate energiche e passionali, contrasta con la fresca serenità del fiume sullo sfondo, dove galleggia una ghirlanda di fiori (vinok), custode silenziosa di desideri e destini. Un’opera che celebra l’eterno trionfo della giovinezza, della luce e del legame indissolubile tra uomo e natura.

Materials: oil paints, canvas.

“Fate Woven from Herbs”

Kristina Kompanets · Rosenheim, Germany / aged 11 · Votes: 6

With this work I wanted to convey the special magic and mystery of Kupala Night. I was inspired by the festival’s most romantic tradition — setting wreaths afloat on the water.
The main idea of the drawing is the unity of people with nature and the hope for a better future. The girl in a vyshyvanka symbolises beauty and purity, while the bright wreath with a lit candle is a symbol of a girl’s dreams, warmth and vital strength, which she entrusts to the river on this enchanted night.

Technique: mixed media (watercolour painting with graphic detailing).

Materials: paper, watercolour, gouache (for bright accents), a fine gel pen for the outlines.

Kupala Fires

Mariia Cherevata · Postolivka / aged 14 · Votes: 6

In my work I wanted to convey the enchanting atmosphere of the Ivan Kupala festival, the warmth of the Kupala bonfire, the mystery of a summer night and belief in miracles and folk traditions.

Technique: painting.

Materials: acrylic paints, painting paper.

The Magic of Kupala Night

Oleksandra Vasyliuk · Druzhba / aged 10 · Votes: 11

In my work I convey the atmosphere of a mysterious Kupala Night, full of dreams and hopes. The girl symbolises the wait for fate and love, and the wreath the tradition of divination on Ivan Kupala. The moon, the water and the night underline the magic of the festival, while the little bridge embodies the path between reality and dreams. This is a work about faith in miracles, purity of feeling and the bond between people and nature.

Materials: gouache.

The Magic of Kupala Night

Sofiia Mazurets · Paterno Calabro, Italy / aged 41 · Votes: 9

This illustration is dedicated to the magical night of Ivan Kupala — a festival in which ancient traditions, the beauty of nature and faith in the power of love are intertwined.

On a quiet lake, lit by the last rays of the sun and the flicker of candles, a girl in a flower wreath thoughtfully watches a boat slowly drifting away. The wreaths set afloat on the water symbolise hope, fate and sincere feelings, while fire and water — the two main elements of Kupala Night — embody purification, unity and new beginnings.

The composition conveys an atmosphere of calm, gentle melancholy and the expectation of a miracle. The mountains, the evening sky and the reflection of light on the water create a space where legends come to life and every little flame recalls dreams drifting towards their destiny.

The illustration is an attempt to convey not only the beauty of Ukrainian traditions but also the emotions they carry through the generations: faith, hope, love and the unbreakable bond between people and nature.

Technique: graphics tablet, Procreate drawing app.

Bella 2024

Nataliia Morzhuk · Rome, Italy / aged 47 · Votes: 5

In this watercolour the magic of Ivan Kupala comes alive — the night when nature breathes warmth and the world fills with quiet wonder. A Ukrainian girl, dressed in traditional costume with embroidered ornaments and a flowered headscarf, sits by the water, absorbed in calm and in her own thoughts. Her figure radiates beauty, tenderness and that special charm Ukrainian women carry within them — strength, gentleness and a deep inner radiance.

Soft watercolour transitions, warm sunlight and the quiet greenery all around create an atmosphere of harmony and protective calm. It is a moment when the girl seems to listen to the voice of the water and of nature, and the world opens up through her eyes — clear, sincere and full of beauty.

Digital watercolour.

“In Search of the Fern Flower”

Tetiana Zhyla · Zaporizhzhia / aged 36 · Votes: 7

In my work I wanted to convey the enchanting atmosphere of the night of the Ivan Kupala festival — one of the most mystical and most ancient Ukrainian traditions. As the central image I chose a girl searching for the fern flower — a symbol of happiness, good fortune, dreams come true and the discovery of secrets. The night forest, the moon and the stars underline the mystery of this special night. I was inspired by Ukrainian folk traditions, belief in miracles, the unity of people with nature and the beauty of our cultural heritage.

Technique: graphic art (pencil drawing).

Materials: paper, graphite pencil.

Moonlight

Anastasiia Nadieieva · Kherson / aged 17 · Votes: 8

The magic revealed on Kupala nights, the traditions and magical beliefs of the ancient Ukrainians.

Watercolour.

Mavka (a forest nymph)

Anastasiia Pomirchyi · Kherson / aged 15 · Votes: 19

I portrayed Ukrainian folklore.

Watercolours, A4 paper.

“Ukrainian Girl”

Mariia Troian · Kherson / aged 15 · Votes: 14

I portrayed Ukrainian culture.

Acrylic markers, paints, felt-tip pens, pen.

A Vesnianka for Ivan Kupala

Ruslana Slyva · Constanța, Romania / aged 44 · Votes: 18

This work was born of the meeting of spring’s tenderness and the magic of a summer Kupala night. Watercolours created a light, transparent world in which the colours seem to blossom together with nature, while coloured pencils added fine lines and lively details.

At the centre is the Vesnianka girl — the spirit of spring, named after the vesnianky, the Ukrainian spring songs — an image of renewal, beauty and harmony. Her long hair intertwines with green shoots, as if nature itself were embracing her and giving her strength. The flowers around her recall Kupala wreaths, and the bright petals symbolise joy, warmth and the expectation of a miracle.

It is a little story about spring meeting the enchantment of Ivan Kupala — about the time when the earth awakens, flowers whisper legends and the human heart believes in beauty and in dreams coming true.

Watercolours, complemented with coloured pencils.

Berehynia of the Sunflower Land

Nazar Osynkyn · Kyiv / aged 14 · Votes: 22

In my work I wanted to convey the beauty of Ukrainian nature and the image of the Berehynia — the guardian figure of folk tradition and a symbol of femininity, the warmth of the family home and protection. I was inspired by the Kupala traditions of honouring the sun, flowers and the power of nature. The sunflowers and plant ornaments symbolise abundance, life and harmony.

Technique: decorative drawing.

Materials: paper, watercolour paints.

Harmony of Nature

Nazar Osynkyn · Kyiv / aged 14 · Votes: 14

In this work I depicted the unity of people and nature, which is an important idea of the Ivan Kupala festival. The flowers symbolise beauty and blossoming, the birds happiness, love and good news, and the image of the girl recalls the Kupala rites connected with wreaths and the world around us.

Technique: decorative composition.

Materials: paper, coloured pencils.

A Colourful Little Ukrainian Girl

Iryna Hamotska · Kherson / aged 15 · Votes: 16

To convey the many colours and the beauty of the wreath as one of the main symbols of the Ivan Kupala festival, because for Ukrainians the wreath is not just an adornment but a profound symbol of femininity, fate, love and the bond with nature.

Watercolour drawing with light modelling clay and rhinestones.

The Magic of Kupala Night

Valentyna Orlovska · Poti, Georgia / aged 16 · Votes: 19

This drawing holds the whole soul of Kupala Night: the magic of fire, belief in miracles and a girl’s wreath set afloat for a happy fate. It is about the beauty of our own traditions. The work was inspired by memories of the atmosphere of the legendary International Folk Art Festival “Kupalski Zori” (“Kupala Stars”), for which my home town, Hola Prystan, is famous. Every year this festival gathered thousands of people on the banks of the Konka and vividly showed respect for the beliefs and customs of the Ukrainian people. It is this feeling of pride in our traditions, of preserving the authenticity and unique beauty of the Tavria region, that I tried to convey in my work.

Graphite pencil, ballpoint pen.

The Forest Song

Daria Kravets · Kherson / aged 16 · Votes: 8

In my work I wanted to convey an atmosphere of love, tenderness and harmony with nature, which are important symbols of the Ivan Kupala festival. I was inspired by the folk traditions connected with the search for happiness and true feelings. The green plants symbolise the beauty of nature, life and renewal, and the young man and the girl sincere love and unity.

Materials: watercolour.

Kupala Night

Anastasiia Nadieieva · Kherson / aged 17 · Votes: 18

The tradition and rites of wreath divination.

Technique: graphic art.

Materials: coloured pencils.

A Little Kupala Wreath

Anastasiia Nadieieva · Kherson / aged 17 · Votes: 21

The tradition of weaving wreaths on Ivan Kupala.

Watercolour.

Rusalka

Anastasiia Nadieieva · Kherson / aged 17 · Votes: 16

The beliefs of Ukrainians about nature spirits and otherworldly forces that grow powerful on Kupala Night.

Watercolour.

In Search of the Fern Flower

Marharyta Koshova · Kherson / aged 15 · Votes: 16

The tradition of searching for the fern flower: according to folk belief, whoever finds it gains magical powers.

Coloured pencils.

Kupala Star

Marharyta Koshova · Kherson / aged 15 · Votes: 36

On Kupala Night the stars are believed to be guides of higher powers. According to ancient beliefs, their magic can foretell the future and reveal the secrets of fate.

Gouache.

“Wreath Divination”

Sofiia Ivaniuk · Kherson / aged 14 · Votes: 34

In my work I wanted to convey the beauty and mysterious atmosphere of the Ivan Kupala festival. I was inspired by the tradition of setting a wreath afloat on the water, by belief in miracles and by the bond between people and nature. Through the image of a girl by the river I showed the dreams and hopes of Kupala Night.

Materials: acrylic paints and canvas.

Mavka

Olena Chernivtska · Verona, Italy / aged 43 · Votes: 26

I am from Melitopol; nearby is the historic site of Kamiana Mohyla (“the Stone Grave”). Every year the Ivan Kupala festival was held there. For me drawing is a kind of therapy, and the Kupala festival is a warm memory of home❤️

Pencil.

The Kupala Wreath Floats Away

Sofiia Lakei · Nova Zburivka / aged 12 · Votes: 4

The magic of the Ivan Kupala festival.

Pencils, felt-tip pens. Drawing.

Water Carries Fate

Kateryna Herasymchuk · Radyvyliv / aged 13 · Votes: 7

The work conveys the atmosphere of the one Kupala Night of the year, when the line between the real and the mystical grows thin. The viewer should sense that beyond the edges of the picture, in the darkness of the forest, the fern is in bloom, and that the water now holds a healing, magical power.

Gouache painting.

Symbol of Unity

Liubov Torlak · Opera, Italy / aged 11 · Votes: 13

Keeping the traditions of our heritage alive.

Technique: mixed media.

Materials: pencils, pen, felt-tip pens.

Photos from previous years

Votes: 15

Photo and video material from re-enactments of summer-cycle traditions in previous years, with the Ukrainian and Italian communities of the Abruzzo region taking part

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