The embroidered floral designs on Ukrainian shirts are much more than an aesthetic — they are a sacred emblem of culture and folk traditions, says the co-founder of World Vyshyvanka Day, which honours of the embroidery.
“It’s a very special Ukrainian symbol,” said Lesia Voroniuk, who is from Chernivtsi in the southwest of Ukraine and recently visited Victoria as part of a 17-day Canadian tour.
Ukrainians and friends in the capital region are expected to mark World Vyshyvanka Day by gathering at Centennial Square today from noon to 12:30, many wearing their embroidered shirts. Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto is expected to attend.
Since Voroniuk and a friend at Chernivtsi National University established Vyshyvanka Day in 2006, it has spread internationally and is celebrated in more than 100 countries on the third Thursday in May, she said.
Lesia Kuzyk, who is based in Victoria, calls the iconic embroidered shirt “a spiritual armour.”
Voroniuk agrees. “We believe it protects Ukrainian people in difficult times and especially now when we have Russian war in Ukraine,” she said. Soldiers wear vyshyvankas believing “they wouldn’t be killed” while wearing them. Kuzyk said because media attention on Ukraine has dwindled due to other conflicts around the world, she gets approached by people who think the war is over, when in fact “it’s worse than ever.”
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from some parts of the country’s northeast and were battling Russian troops in other areas, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has postponed all his upcoming foreign trips. The wire service reported that Russia is opening new fronts in order to stretch Ukraine’s army, which is short of ammunition and manpower, along the 1,000-kilometre front line.
Voroniuk, who is also making stops in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver on her tour, said the Russian war on Ukraine should remain a concern for all, because “if Ukraine will fall — I don’t believe it — many other countries will be next” and all of Europe could be under threat.
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