On the eve of Christmas, at the rehabilitation centre of the Dnipro Experimental Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Enterprise ‘Dnipro.protez’ in Dnipro, employees of the Donetsk Regional Art Museum held an interactive event on making traditional Ukrainian amulets called ‘Christmas spiders’.
Servicemen undergoing rehabilitation learned about the history and symbolism of this talisman of prosperity, harmony and intergenerational connection.
The practical part of the master class was structured as a form of therapy using folk art, during which participants created their own ‘spiders’ from straw and thread step by step in a warm and calm atmosphere of joint creativity, filling the process with personal meaning. This master class became a moment of concentration, inner balance and a feeling of Christmas cosiness.
The involvement of intangible cultural heritage in rehabilitation and socio-cultural practices emphasises the role of the museum in supporting, interacting with and preserving traditions in modern conditions.
Ukrainian traditions live on when we create them together.