Lincolnshire Time and Tide Bell

A Continuing Arts Programme facing the British Coasts

Welcome, Guest

The Welcome, Guest art exhibition was held over the last weekend in June 2022 in the Spout Yard Park Gallery, Louth.

Celebrating Refugee Week, East Lincolnshire Area of Sanctuary and Lincs Time and Tide Bell Louth, created the event with a picnic and music and song from local artistes, to welcome our guests from Ukraine and Syria, and an art exhibition devoted to Ukrainian artistic culture and the issues of migration.

The art exhibition may now be over in the gallery but it still lives on, here in cyber-space, and is open for some further contributions. You are invited to paint a picture, or create some other artwork, that speaks to the plight of refugees or honours the traditional cultures of Ukraine and other lands where conflict and strife is forcing migration. If you think you might like to contribute to this exhibition, just send a photo of your work and any descriptive information and email it to us at biffvernon@gmail.com and we’ll add it to this website.

Petrykivka Painting

Here's a great way to join this project, in which everybody can participate whatever your level of artistic skill and ability. Create a piece of Petrykivka style painting. Take a photo of it and we'll uploaded it to this web-page.

What is Petrykivka Painting?

Petrykivka painting is a traditional Ukrainian decorative painting style, originating from the village of Petrykivka in Dnipropetrovsk oblast of Ukraine, where it was traditionally used to decorate house walls and everyday household items. The style dates from the 18th century, some claiming that it has earlier roots, but it has been closely documented only since the mid-19th century. Petrykivka painting became popular in the early 20th century and it continues to thrive as a modern art form, recently becoming emblematic of traditional Ukrainian culture.

Unlike the mainstream of art, Petrykivka painting has always been dominated by women, with grandmothers passing their skills to their grandchildren. This was not an art-form that wealthy men went to St Petersburg to learn! A parallel in England might be drawn with the ‘Roses and Castle’ decorations of traditional canal boats that developed in the mid-19th century. The origin of this style is uncertain but may be traced to Romany decoration, with the castles perhaps representing those found in the Carpathian Mountains. Like other folk-art traditions across northern and central Europe, this was art created by women to embellish homes where material possessions were scarce, but beauty was valued.

The distinctive features of this folk-art style are its flower patterns, brush techniques, and traditionally white background. Images are shamelessly flat, 2-dimensional with little attempt at perspective or representing the third dimension.

In 2013 Petrykivka Painting was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It has been inspirational for much 21st century art in Ukraine. Here is the UNESCO statement:

Petrykivka decorative painting as a phenomenon of the Ukrainian ornamental folk art

Inscribed in 2013 (8.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The people of the village of Petrykivka decorate their living quarters, household belongings and musical instruments with a style of ornamental painting that is characterized by fantastic flowers and other natural elements, based on careful observation of the local flora and fauna. This art is rich in symbolism: the rooster stands for fire and spiritual awakening, while birds represent light, harmony and happiness. In folk belief, the paintings protect people from sorrow and evil. Local people, and in particular women of all ages, are involved in this folk art tradition. Every family has at least one practitioner, making decorative painting an integral part of daily existence in the community. The painting traditions, including the symbolism of the ornamental elements, are transferred, renewed and enhanced from one generation to another. Local schools at all levels, from pre-school to college, teach the fundamentals of Petrykivka decorative painting, with all children given the opportunity to study it. The community willingly teaches its skills and know-how to anyone who shows an interest. The tradition of decorative and applied arts contributes to the renewal of historical and spiritual memory and defines the identity of the entire community.

Here’s some further reading and YouTube videos to help with techniques and ideas.

Wikipedia
Authentic Ukraine
UNESCO
YouTube UNESCO
YouTube UATV
YouTube UATV

There are plenty of images online to provide inspiration; just search ‘Petrykivka’. All you need is a sheet of paper, a brush, preferably a longish soft one, and some paints; pretty much any will do but if you need to get some, children’s poster paints are a cheap and effective medium. Post your piece to me at least several days before the 26th June. If you want it returned, please do include a large enough stamped addressed envelope. If you don’t include an SAE we’ll assume you want to donate your picture to us.

There is so much sadness surrounding the Ukrainian situation, but Petrykivka Paintings are bright and cheerful, bringing some much-needed joy and making the world a little bit prettier.

Please do get involved and have a go, and tell all your friends and relatives; the more the merrier.

Wooden plate "August"

The artist, Lyubov Panchenko, died on 30th April 2022, aged 84, in Bucha after being left alone with no food or help during the Russian invasion .

Biff Vernon - in the style of Petrykivka
poster paints 30 x 40 cm.

Felix Müller - Ukrainian Village 22nd April 1942
Crayon on paper 62cm x 90cm.

The same monastery, but drawn a month earlier, in March 1942, with the River Dnieper in front of the monastery frozen over.

Felix Müller was a German artist. Although utterly opposed to the Third Reich, he was conscripted into the army in the Second World War. In 1942 he was in Ukraine but managed to produce several artworks despite the conditions and lack of materials.

Felix Müller - Ukrainian Girl 22nd July 1941
Pencil on paper 57cm x 44cm.

Biff Vernon - after Maria Primachenko A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace 1982.
Goache on paper 30 x 40 cm.

Maria Primachenko's painting, A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace, has become a symbol of peace in Ukraine and around the world. Here's Oscar Holland, writing for CNN and here's Christoph Heinrich of the Denver Art Museum.

Street Art Murals of Kyiv

After the Maidan protests and change of government in 2014, an explosion of the Kyiv street art scene became the response to political turmoil and hope for the future. Over a hundred major murals have been created, some based on Ukrainian folklore and literature, others commemorating victims of conflict.

Explore all the Street Art Murals of Kyiv from this interactive map.

Aimie Elliot - Acrylic paint and black pen on canvas 20 x20 cm
Inspired by Ukrainian folk art.

Di Hennell - Watercolour 18 x 18 cm
Traditional Ukrainian decorative folk-art.

Viktoriia
"My dear Ukraine,
Ukraine has difficult times now: a lot of blood, ruins, death, fear...
But sooner or later our dear Ukraine will be reborn and it will be more beautiful than before.It is impossible to break us, we will reborn even from the ashes."

Judith John - Ukrainian folk painting "Flowers for house decor"

Michel Ducos
"En ces temps de tromperie et d'agression, l'innocence est une menace."
"In these times of deceit and aggression, innocence is a threat."

Anna Kartavenko demonstrating in London against the war.

Marcus Vergette - Spotted Flycatcher, A Migrant
Ink on tinted card 16 x 9 cm

The Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata is a migrant, seen in the British Isles from May to September and nesting here, but overwinters in Africa, found in Namibia from December to February. Not all migrants are fleeing war-zones.

Doggerland and the Spotted Flycatcher.

The Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata, is a migrant, seen in the British Isles from May to September and nesting here, but overwinters in Africa. Not all migrants are fleeing war-zones. The Spotted Flycatcher painted by Marcus Vergette was fitted with a geo-locator, a tiny device comprising a light sensor, clock and memory. On recapture the following year the light and time data recorded was retrieved and used to calculate the bird’s latitude and longitude over the previous months. It had flown down the west side of Africa to spend from December to February in Namibia.

The birds know nothing of borders. Some species, particularly seabirds, nest close together in crowded colonies, their food being way out to sea. Others, that depend on avoiding local competition, defend a territory while nesting and feeding their young but out of the breeding season may be gregarious. Migratory birds remind us that there is but one world and freedom of movement is the natural order.

It is only humans that have drawn arbitrary lines on their maps and stop people crossing the borders on pain of imprisonment or death. For sure individuals and households may defend their immediate territories with garden fences and front doors, but national borders? They serve no purpose other than to embed racism within societies division between peoples and economic advantage for some, deprivation for others.

Patriotism, the love of one’s homeland, is widespread, but it concerns the common ultimate desire to be buried close to one’s ancestors. It is not exclusionary. For many, throughout Pleistocene and Holocene history, the Ice Ages, migration was the reality and peoples have moved, but climate change was slow, perhaps imperceptible across generations. We are now causing global heating of such rapidity that the consequent climate change and sea level rise will force waves of migration over the coming decades.

Doggerland IV, Tracks and Traces ~ Maxim Griffin

Towards the end of the last Ice Age much of the North Sea was dry land but as the ice melted so sea level rose, creating the British Isles. Henceforward all new migrants had to come across the seas. Maxim Griffin’s art looks east from Lincolnshire’s coast, across Doggerland, that rich land of the Mesolithic, now gone, as will be one day great tracts of low-lying land around the world. The rate of change is uncertain, but the fact of sea level rise is undeniable. Land will be lost, cities destroyed, populations will migrate.

An extract from Maxim Peter Griffin’s ‘Field Notes: Walking the Territory’ — a book of words and artworks that captures a year spent on foot in the Lincolnshire landscape, newly published by Unbound.

The route taken by the Spotted Flycatcher between July 2021 and June 2022, from England to Namibia and back. (The excursion to Zambia was probably a glitch in the sensor!).

Location estimates based on data retrieved from geo-locator attached to a Spotted Flycatcher 2021-22.

There has been a 90% decline in Spotted Flycatchers breeding in Britain over the last 50 years, coinciding with a catastrophic decline in their food – flies. Other migratory birds that depend on insects, such as cuckoos, swifts, swallows and house martins, are also suffering huge population drops..

The cause is probably a combination of climate change and the increasing use of agricultural pesticides, in both Europe and Africa. While the Sahel becomes an increasingly hostile environment to migrating birds, the combination of climate change and increasing human population in sub-Saharan Africa is leading to conflict over land and resources and forcing the need for migration of humans..

The fates of insects, of birds and of people are inextricably intertwined; the sixth mass extinction affects all.

Painted on 24th February 2022 by Kasia Rubin

“This art was my reaction to the military attack this Thursday morning. Fast and furious art. It was from my bottom of my heart with hope that other's countries will react. And now everybody sees what’s going on. Peace and love for Ukraine.”

In our exhibition 'ACROSS the SEAS' in May 2018 at the Sam Scorer Gallery, Lincoln, we diplayed The List, created by Banu Cennetoǧlu in association with UNITED. The List details the deaths of migrants attempting to travel to and find sanctuary in Europe. At the time The List comprised 33,293 records of deaths, printed on 48 pages. We now present the latest updated version of The List. It now records 48,647 deaths of migrants and extends to 84 pages. Download The List as a .pdf here.

Saltfleet
Susan Kistner Photoprint on canvas
What do you see beyond the sea? If the air was clearer and the Earth was flat, one might see the Carpathian Mountains from here.