“Ethnographic tourist routes and folk crafts, decorative and applied arts of Poltava region”

Poltava region gave more than 700 famous names to the world. It is also famous for its own folk crafts and craftsmen. Carpet making, weaving, Easter eggs decorating, basket weaving, ceramics, wood and metal products. Experienced craftsmen do not only offer their unique works on display, but they also teach the ancient skill.

Poltava Regional Museum of Rushnyk or embroidered Towel (Poltava district, Stepne village)

The uniqueness of the Poltava Regional Museum of Rushnyk / embroidered Towel is that about 500 items of the museum's exhibition have been collected by the villagers of Stepne in the last decade. The collection includes nearly 400 rushnyks/ embroidered towels.  There are also home-made carpets, embroidered paintings, antique rural clothing and household items. Rushnyks from Poltava, Chernyhiv, Kharkiv, Transcarpathian, Vinnytsya and Sumy regions are represented here. Some exhibits date from the 19th century. Visitors of the museum have the opportunity to participate in a handicrafts workshop, order ceremonial arrangements for family holidays and important events.

The Museum of Weaving and Embroidery (Poltava region, Reshetylivka town, 19Pokrovska Street)

Reshetylivka in Poltava region is a valuable pearl in the wreath of Ukrainian folk crafts. The works of folk craftsmen of Reshetylivka region fascinate by refinement, enchant the soul and eyes of anyone who touches the refined mastery of embroidered shirts/vyshyvanka, carpets, tapestries and paintings.The keeper of the best achievements of Reshetylivka masters is Reshetylivka Museum of Weaving and Embroidery. Here you can learn about the history of weaving and embroidery of the Reshetylivka region from ancient times to the present.The centre-piece of the museum is the carpet of the laureate of the National Taras Shevchenko Prize, Honoured Master of Folk Art Nadiya Babenko, made as a replica of the carpet "Tree of Life", represented in New York in the UNO lobby.In early May in Reshetylivka the Annual Art Exhibition "Reshetylivka Spring" is held in the open air.

Reshetylivka workshop of art crafts (Poltava region, Reshetylivka, 3-b Shevchenko.)

The Reshetylivka workshop of art crafts is a successor of the factory named after Clara Tsetkin, one of the oldest folks art crafts enterprises in Ukraine. The important achievements of Ukrainian arts and crafts are related to this enterprise. The Reshetylivka workshop of arts crafts continues the tradition of the exemplary weaving workshop, founded in 1905 by the Poltava governmental zemstvo.You can observe here how unique handmade tapestry carpets, famous Poltava and Reshetylivka rushnyks, national women's and men's shirts, tablecloths, bedspreads, rugs, napkins and other things are made.The tapestry carpets made by the Reshetylivka workshop of art crafts decorate the interiors of many public buildings, Ukrainian embassies, the Ukrainian Center for Culture and Business in Athens, the arts palace “Ukraine”, high-end hotels and restaurants, private collections and etc.

 Ukrainian Wedding Museum (Poltava region, Dykanskyi district, Velyki Budyshcha, vul. Yu. Kononenko, 3)

The exposition of the Ukrainian Wedding Museum presents the wedding dress of the middle of the past century, furniture and household items, variety of embroidered towels, shirts and a bride's chest. The old ritual songs, wedding songs and embellishments performed by the local folklore ensemble "Beregynia" make it possible for modern Ukrainians to feel the flair and aroma of that time. In addition, the museum presents ancient wedding dresses kept by local inhabitants for more than half a century, an ancient bed dating from 1926, archival marriage certificates and other integral features of the wedding ceremony. The museum is interactive and attracts visitors to the impromptu ceremony. Anyone can order traditional wedding ceremonies for their own wedding.

National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnia (Poltava region, Zinkivsky district, Opishnia, 102 Partyzanska,).

On the territory of the ancient town of Opishnia and its surroundings ceramic crafts arose in ancient times of our history. Today, the village is deservedly considered the pottery capital of Ukraine, and the National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnia is the only specialized ethnographic, scientific, cultural and observational as well as educational institution in Ukraine. The repository collections represent: pottery centres of all historical and ethnographic regions of Ukraine, a unique collection of children's clay toys, a collection of foreign pottery. The only pottery production facility with furnace in Ukraine dating from the early twentieth century was preserved. The National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnia includes: Memorial Estate of the Pottery Family of Poshivailo, Memorial Estate of the Potter Oleksandra Seliuchenko, Museum of the Krychevsky Family, Memorial Estate of the Family of the philosopher and collector of Opishnia ceramics Leonid Smorzh and premises of  zemstvo (country council) provincial pottery workshop. Since 1995, the Research Centre of Ukrainian Pottery of the Institute of Ceramology NASU has been operating at the museum. Ukraine-wide symposiums of monumental ceramics are held every August at the Centre. The best works are exhibited in the open air during all year round. Each year in June, the museum holds a week of national pottery movement "Zdvyh", aimed at teaching about the traditions and achievements of pottery culture, the development of modern pottery, the popularization of ceramics in Ukraine. Participants and guests of the event visit the museum, take part in potters, painters and blacksmiths workshops, creative competitions, pottery quizzes, etc.

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