The organization "Orange Wave" held the first online flash mob, "Ukrainian Sunflower Day". Ukrainians from the US and other countries joined the initiative, publishing photos of sunflowers and works by Ukrainian artists. The Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago also joined the campaign.
This was reported by Kateryna Tkachenko.
The idea to establish a separate day dedicated to the sunflower as one of the recognizable images of Ukraine arose after the Ukrainian Independence Day parade in Chicago. During the event, participants in traditional Ukrainian clothing gave sunflowers to passers-by and children.
The organizers noted that the unofficial International Sunflower Day is celebrated worldwide on May 1st. At the same time, the new Ukrainian initiative has a different focus — the sunflower is seen primarily as a cultural symbol of Ukraine, associated with the Ukrainian summer, nature, and folk art.
The sunflower also holds a special place in modern Ukrainian history. In Ukraine, August 29th marks the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders who died in the struggle for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the state. The sunflower became the symbol of this date because the 2014 Ilovaisk tragedy and the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from the encirclement took place, in part, amid sunflower fields.
During the first flash mob, participants published photos of flowers, paintings, and other artworks. Among them were photos of sunflowers from the Kharkiv region, works by artists Kateryna Zub, Valeriia Nosyk, and Olena Diadenko, as well as creations by other Ukrainian artists.
Artist Vira Ustianska, who is working on the series "Project 1000 Sunflowers", also joined the initiative. On the eve of the flash mob, her work In the Flow with Shadow from this series won third place at the 27th Annual American Impressionist Society National Exhibition. The exhibition featured 1,547 works by artists from the US.
The Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago also supported the initiative by adding a sunflower to its Facebook profile picture. The museum announced that next year they plan to prepare materials from their archive related to sunflowers.
According to the organizers' vision, "Ukrainian Sunflower Day" could become an annual cultural initiative joined by Ukrainian schools, museums, cultural centers, artists, and public organizations.
Photo: volynnews
Author: Danylo Pievchev