Lviv: We have always seen stylish lights, lanterns and curtains playing a vital role in any music festival. In an International music festival just the level of decoration goes up. But, have you ever thought of using paper cut-outs as decoratives?
International Festival of Folk Music in Lviv has used huge sheets of paper to decorate the theatre, which is a popular centuries-old craft known as "Vytynannya" in Ukrainian.
Artist Daria Alyoshkina has brought back this craft to life. She used a technique called "vytynaty" which means to cut out a pattern in Ukrainian and if one takes a closer look the intricate cut-out patterns can be seen.
"I fold the paper as you can see there is a fold in the middle. After each paper is folded, I do a drawing using a pencil on the one half of the artwork. I don't erase the drawing after it's done. This is a kind of quality mark confirming that everything is handmade, each line was drawn without any involvement of mechanical instruments. After that, I start cutting gradually, for example moving from down to top. The most difficult thing is to make a big artwork from a small sketch," says Alyoshkina.
In Ukraine, this art-craft has been popular since the 19th century as people would create cut-outs of paper as a cheap and easy way to create decorations for their homes.