Nieuwjaarsgroet 2023

Met deze prachtige Oekraïense afbeelding wensen we jullie een gezond, gelukkig en – bovenal – vreedzaam 2023!

Irene & Wouter

1 januari 2023

De afbeelding en tekst hieronder zijn afkomstig van de website van het Ivan Honchar Museum National Centre of Folk Culture in Kyiv.

“Girl with a deer, author unknown. Mid. 20th century.
The mysterious painting ‘Olenka and a Deer’ is widespread across Ukraine and is most likely associated with the ancient phenomenon of totemism. The girl and the deer are depicted as a married couple, surrounded by flowers and wearing flower crowns. Based on the girl’s clothes and other details, it is likely this plot emerged from Western European fairy-tales and mystical spheres. It is reminiscent of another well-known story, ‘Girl with a Unicorn’.The paintings ‘Olenka and a Deer’ and ‘Angel Guards the Children’ are simplified, folklorised, equivalents of their modern European counterparts“.