Thessaloniki: Refugee Children from Ukraine decorate Easter Eggs with Pisanka technique

“There is no right or wrong, beautiful or ugly. Each Easter egg for Ukrainians is unique!”. Holding in her hands an Easter egg decorated by the refugee students of the Saturday Ukrainian School, the president of the Ukrainian-Greek Initiative Natalia Pitsiura speaks to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency about this pre-pashal tradition of the Ukrainians. “This year we celebrate Easter in Greece for the third time, away from the country where we are at war,” explains Mrs. Pitsiura, who came to Greece ten years ago, after she married here and had two children. “My parents are with me in Thessaloniki. They happened to come for the New Year’s Day of 2022 and had tickets to return to Kiev on 25 February, but the war caught up with them,” says the 44-year-old Ukrainian, who was a pediatrician in Kiev, but in Greece she has not yet recognized her degree. “I married and had two children, but I became a blogger for breast-feeding, advising mothers from the internet. As soon as the first refugees from Ukraine came to Thessaloniki, I thought it was my duty to be there for them. We formed the union with the participation of Greeks for voluntary actions in favour of Ukraine, fighting for its freedom,” he says. Curious eggs with Pisanka technique The Pisanka technique is applied to egg with a decorative design. It has its roots in Ukrainian tradition. The decoration of Easter eggs is an integral part of the Great Lent and the pre-paschalin period. It is known that egg is an archaic and extremely powerful symbol in many ancient cultures of the world, so children learn art Pisans with patterns, ornaments designed or written in eggs. They also have deep meaning, as do the colors with which Easter eggs are painted. “This is a practice of painting and decorating the egg with drawings of the rural rituals of spring and summer. It holds the central place in the Easter rituals,” notes Natalia Pitsiura and refers to another ancient candle-shaped egg decoration technique, prepared to do along with the children of the School. “It is customary to decorate Easter Easter Easter eggs with candle, but also as a commemorative, talisman egg for home and family that Mrs. Pitsiura notes and refers to a large egg museum located in Ukraine, near the city of Lviv. “The Pysanka Museum is a museum of decorative Easter eggs in the town of Kolomia, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The museum collection includes more than 12,000 eggs from various areas of Ukraine and countries of the world,” he explains. The lessons in Ukrainian children on Pisanka’s art painting, make Mikola Kositsky (Mykola Kosytskyy) and Marta Antonyuk. The next lesson will take place on Saturday, April 13, and, as always, on the site of the SolidarityNow Blue Refugee Center. “We don’t paint boiled eggs, but fresh!” Mikola Kositsky explains to the APE, in fluent Greek, since he is a PhD candidate of the University of Patras (Philolofia Department), while in Greece he has been staying since 2012. “Then, with a tool – a small round file, we pierce the decorated egg (pitch) from two sides and blow into a hole empty the egg,” he says and invites us all to the Pisanka class on 13 April. On the refugee side stands the Consul of Ukraine in Thessaloniki Evgen Skvira. “All Ukrainians in Thessaloniki are a family! This is where our countrymen found refuge, leaving the war. During the Lent period, the customs and traditions of the country, unite us all even stronger” he notes and excludes the action of the Ukrainian union— Greek Initiative that enables children to go to Ukrainian School, where they have the opportunity to teach Ukrainian language, literature, culture and history of their country as well as its customs and customs.