Viktor Tkachenko
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Senior Research Fellow,
Leading Research Fellow of the National Historical and Ethnographic
Reserve «Pereyaslav»,
Pereyaslav, Ukraine
E-mail: viktor69tkachenko@ukr.net
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-3430
DOI: 10.17721/2522-4611.2026.53.2
THE TOPIC OF EASTER EGG IN THE CORRESPONDENCE OF CORRESPONDENTS OF THE CABINET OF UKRAINIAN ART IN THE 1920s.
TThe aim of the article is to examine the correspondence of correspondents of the Cabinet of Ukrainian Art of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences on the topic of Easter egg painting, to determine the nature of the information transmitted in these letters, and to assess its source value for modern science. The methodological basis of the study is a comprehensive approach that combines historical and cultural, source, ethnographic, and art historical analysis. For the first time, a systematic analysis of the topic of Easter egg-making in the correspondence of correspondents of the Cabinet of Ukrainian Art of the 1920s has been carried out. The information potential of epistolary sources for the reconstruction of regional features, techniques and semantics of Ukrainian Easter eggs has been determined. The mechanisms of transformation of attitudes towards folk art under the influence of the cultural policy of the Soviet era have been revealed. The role of the Cabinet of Ukrainian Art as an institution that contributed to the fixation and preservation of the traditions of Easter egg-making has been clarified. The feasibility of integrating the discovered archival materials into modern interdisciplinary studies of ethnocultural heritage has been substantiated. Correspondence of correspondents of the Cabinet of Ukrainian Art of the 1920s opens a unique view of the state of the pysanka tradition of that time. The documents testify to the existence of pysanka as an artistic object and its deep integration into the ritual and spiritual culture of Ukrainians. The epistolary shows how political changes gradually displaced traditions from use. Archival letters are a little-studied but valuable source that requires further study and use in science and education. The available materials are highly informative and open up prospects for interdisciplinary research in the fields of ethnography, culturology, and the history of Ukrainian art.
Key words: pysanka, pysanka making, correspondents, letters, archive, Kotsiubynska, Cabinet of Ukrainian Art.
Received 21.11.2025.
Revised 26.12.2025.
Accepted 6.01.2026.
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