Radauti - Bucovina
Customs, beliefs and traditions are expressions both of a community’s
social life of the many individual lives within that community. Even more, they
express the spiritual culture of a people.
Festivals celebrate special times in the life of the community as well as
in the lives of individuals.
Easter Eggs reflect both the community and the individual. For the
individual, they signify purification and a life of faith; for the community,
the mystery of life and the regeneration of the earth after the cold winter; and
spiritually, the rebirth of mankind to a new life in Christ.
Together with bread, fruit, wine and fish, the egg is a fundamental
symbol of love.
Eggs decorated in red are particularly a symbol of Easter, recalling the
blood of Christ.
Egg decorating is representative of all aspects of our traditional art
and is closely linked with other crafts such as the embroidery and decoration
found on folk costumes. All these crafts transfigure what is ordinary into a
thing of beauty.
To found out more information’s about the decorated eggs traditions we
went and spoke to some of the most well known women, in our city, who paint eggs
since they were little:
“The egg is considered to be the
symbol of creation, one the primordial elements, a vital nucleus encompassing
the mystery of fertility and expressing beauty, harmony and perfection.
Ostrich eggs, in particular, by reason of their size and durability,
symbolize stability and are
worshipped as possessing the secret of maternity.
But no matter what the size or type of egg, whether duck, goose or
ostrich, the most important aspect of the creft of egg-decorating is the
technique and quality of the lines, whether curving around the egg, drawing on
ancient motifs, representing folk ornaments or reflecting other traditional
geometric designs from our region.”
Oresia Leuciuc(Lider group)
“I have been practicing the art of
painting eggs since I was a child. It is an art very specific to Brodina, a
settlement in the mountains of north in Romania where I was born.
I vary the color depending on the type
of pattern I have chosen some of my favorites are <The Cross>, <The
Clover Leaf>, <Ear of Wheat> and <Adam’s Apple>.
The dominant colors are yellow, red and green, and the motifs are
inspired by the designs on traditional costumes and furnishing. I also do
hand-weaving and I use some motifs when I work at the loom.”
Crevco Vasilena
“Unlike the eggs which use beeswax,
those painted by me belong to a different category-that of religious motifs.
There-create mystical scenes such as the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the
Last Supper, the Resurrection, and images of the Holy Mother. I am very grateful
to God this gift.”
Savu Maria
“I learnt this skill from my mother,
Simota Eugenia, who carries on the tradition in her native village, Horodnic de
Jos.
The technique used from my painted
eggs is different from many others.
The outline of the designs is worked
in China ink using a nib and then filled in with dyes. My designs are largely in
with dyes. My designs are largely geometric shapes embellished with borders of
hatching or <netting>.”
Simota Alina-Pazica
“
Radauti is well known for its
<beaded> eggs. A wooden egg shape is covered in wax and the pattern is
created from tiny beads of many different colors .
The geometric patterns, based on a red background, are inspired by
traditional motifs found on folk costumes such as headscarves and shirts, by the
monasteries and churches of the region, or by traditional symbols, known by
names such as <Hen and chickens> and <The Ox Head>”.
Galateanu Claudia