Culbaba Theatre marks Vyshyvanka Day with its first lecture-concert
Culbaba Theatre marked Vyshyvanka Day with an evening that felt both intimate and quietly ambitious: part lecture, part concert, part living archive.
At the centre of the event stood the Ukrainian embroidered shirt — the vyshyvanka. Artistic Director Olena Zdielnikova guided the audience through its place in everyday life: who wore it, when, and why; how patterns travelled through families; how ornament could signal region, faith, protection or belonging.
Vyshyvanka Day itself, she explained, began as a student initiative in the early 2000s and has since grown into a global moment of cultural visibility for Ukrainians — particularly poignant in recent years.
The talk moved across regions of Ukraine, tracing shifts in colour, density and symbolism. The striking black embroidery of the Borshchiv tradition drew particular interest, its bold surfaces carrying stories of mourning, resilience and local identity. A small display of authentic rushnyky — ritual cloths used in family and community ceremonies — brought the discussion off the page and into the room. Their presence changed the atmosphere; these were not museum pieces behind glass, but textiles that had lived.
The second half of the event unfolded in song. Members of the theatre appeared in a mixture of antique and contemporary embroidered shirts, creating a quiet dialogue between past and present. The repertoire centred on traditional spring songs — music once sung to welcome warmth, light and communal renewal after winter.
What emerged over the course of the evening was a sense of continuity rather than nostalgia. Embroidery here was neither costume nor ornament for display. It formed part of a wider cultural language — one still spoken, still worn, still sung.
Photo credit: Petro Budnyk
