Modern Ukrainian Embroidery | Master of Crafts

It is the place where political prisoners were kept under two totalitarian regimes. The prison on Lontskiy Street in Lviv is a monument to the crimes of the Third Reich, as well as the Soviet Union. In 1939, when Western Ukraine was seized by the USSR, there was an NKVD office here. During the offensive of the German troops in 1941, KGB officers shot around a thousand people here before retreating. Until 1944, the building was occupied by the Gestapo jail, in addition, there were Einsatzgruppen aimed at targeting the Jewish population. From 1944, the Soviet secret service returned here and used the prison until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Today, it is a museum of political repression, which tells about all the hardships of local prisoners in different years. In 2018, “Prison on Lontskyi Street” presented an unusual exhibition titled “The Color of Prayer.” The exhibition included more than 50 artifacts - mostly icons and napkins embroidered by female prisoners in this and in other Soviet prisons. It was forbidden to have needles and do needlework with the application of religious symbols. Because the prison guards destroyed all the items that they found during searches. Yet, in the most desperate situation, the victims of terror found the strength to embroider Ukrainian patterns and images for prayers. Fish bones, matches or branches were used as needles and the threads were taken from their own clothes. No matter how brutally the totalitarian state and system tried to destroy Ukrainian national identity, these fragile things have survived to this very day. After all, embroidery is not just a handicraft, but an essential element of the cultural code of Ukrainians. This conviction inspires the master to work and develop new and unexpected forms in this unique form of art. _ Subscribe to UATV English: https://goo.gl/VHU7bk Facebook:   / uatven   Twitter:   / uatv_en   Instagram:   / uatv.en   Watch UATV live: http://eng.uatv.ua/