Роман Луцький: «Велика війна завжди провокує мікровійни — у сімейних всесвітах»

Olesia Trofymenko blends painting techniques with ancient Ukrainian embroidery. In March 2022, during the peak of the war, Dior approached Olesia to create decorations for their collection show. However, this collaboration went beyond simple set design. The world of high fashion sought to see and hear Ukraine in its unique, authentic form. The central theme of Dior's collection became the «Tree of Life» - a key element from traditional embroidered towels of the Chernihiv region.

The «Tree of Life» symbolises the triumph of light over darkness. In the first few days of Olesia Trofymenko’s exhibition at the Rodin Museum in Paris, more than 10 thousand visitors attended - an impressive turnout, according to Dior’s PR team, and a rare occurrence. Sestry spoke with Olesia about her collaboration with the globally renowned brand, how she reached European officials and millionaires, and the high-level artistry of Ukrainian embroidery.

Embroidered symbol of life’s victory over death captivated Dior's creative director

Yaryna Matviiv: Is it true that the news about collaborating with Dior caught you off guard while you were in the garden?

Olesia Trofymenko: That is exactly what happened. In some ways, I was lucky because, during the invasion, I was far from Kyiv, in a village. But emotionally, it was very difficult - panic attacks would not leave me alone. On the fourth day of the war, I went out to plant a garden. It was my psychological protest against death and all the horrors Russia was causing. It was my personal war to claim the right to plant flowers and gardens on my land, in defiance of the machinery of death.

By the way, in Kyiv, it is quite noticeable: flowerbeds, which were usually overrun with weeds, are now planted with flowers. When I spoke with my neighbours, they had the same impulse - to urgently fill this wounded earth with beauty.

It was during this time that I received a call from the curator of an exhibition we had done back in 2014. At that time, Benetton held an annual exhibition inviting a hundred artists from different countries to paint on 10/15 centimetre canvases - challenging but interesting work. With the start of the full-scale invasion, it was decided to repeat this exhibition in Rome.

Back in 2014, I managed to embroider a fragment on that tiny canvas because I had just invented my painting-embroidery technique. Now, I was eager to explore this technique on a larger scale. My work caught the eye of Dior's creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri. She approached the curator about doing a joint exhibition with me. It was so unexpected!

I was standing in the garden and asked again on the phone: «Which Dior?»

The exhibition curator, Solomiya Savchuk, added that I would have 200 people working for me. I thought she meant 200 Ukrainian artists would help with the decorations. But no. «You will have 200 Indian embroiderers from Mumbai working for you», Solomiya said. In reality, there turned out to be twice as many.

It took 470 seamstresses three weeks (!) to embroider 32 of my works for Dior shows

Interestingly, this was the first Indian school where women were allowed to embroider and earn money from it (in India, traditionally, only men could earn money through embroidery). They beautifully embroidered my canvases in 3D.

- You researched Cossack embroidery from past centuries. These motifs became the face of Dior’s shows. But why did Dior turn to Ukrainian history and art?

- Well, first of all, when they approached me, it was the end of March 2022. The idea resonated because the Dior brand itself was founded after Christian Dior met his sister, who survived a Nazi concentration camp. In protest against the collapse of humanity, he established his high fashion house. It was a victory of aesthetics over destruction.

This is why it was important for them to collaborate with Ukrainian artisans (we had already witnessed Bucha and Irpin by then) - it was their political stance on the events in Ukraine. Full support.

Secondly, I use intricate embroidery techniques.

I try to showcase Ukrainian culture in a way that breaks free from the clichés that Russia has always used to present us to the world - baggy trousers and primitive embroidered shirts. In reality, Cossack embroidery is like a universe! Its aesthetic is comparable to that of Japan

For my Dior sketches, I also drew inspiration from the wedding wreaths of early 20th-century Galicia. These wreaths resemble crowns. However, the most prominent connection between me and Dior is the symbol of the Tree of Life. Dior latched onto this image. As Maria Grazia Chiuri told me, the Tree of Life is a collective symbol across all cultures. All ancient civilisations interpret it as a symbol of life’s triumph over death.

As a result, Maria Grazia completely changed the concept of her collection to incorporate this image. The «Tree of Life» became the leitmotif of the entire Dior show.

- After the Dior shows ended, did the embroidered canvases remain at the Rodin Museum?

- Yes, they hung there for a week, and museum visitors could view them. In just the first four days, 10 thousand people saw my work. The exhibition generated a lot of buzz. We spoke about Ukraine through the language of art.

Afterwards, the canvases became the property of the House of Dior.

- At the start of the war, France and Italy were still influenced by Russian propaganda. But Dior took a stand immediately?

- And that pleasantly surprised me. Maria Grazia’s first words when we met in Paris were: «Olesia, I want to tell you straight away that we are on your side, we do not believe Russian propaganda. We understand where the truth lies».

That was important because when you are abroad, it is hard to know who you can trust. Russian propaganda spends vast amounts of money to spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine.

Artists can be heard better than politicians

- A year ago, we held a screening of the film «Mariupol. Unlost Hope». Let me share the backstory: while I was creating sketches for Dior, our director Maks Lytvynov asked me to draw an illustration for a documentary about Mariupol. He filmed this right after the city was taken. In it, he interviewed women who had survived, and in the pauses between these heavy stories, I drew the city «before» and «after» the catastrophe.

This film was shown in various countries across Europe, and a French volunteer, Stéphane Delma, took an interest. He decided that more screenings should be held in France - on different public platforms.

That is how we ended up in Étretat, a tiny French commune famous for being painted by the Impressionists. The place is so popular that European millionaires have started buying houses there. It was important for us to share the stories of the women from Mariupol with this audience. However, the town’s mayor, who is over 90 years old, did not want to show the film. He said it was all politics and mentioned that he had studied Russian once. Then, things changed, just like in a movie…

The local community of active women insisted on screening the film, and after watching it, the mayor underwent a transformation. He became very sympathetic to us.

A lot of people came to the film screening, and afterwards, they asked us more detailed questions about the situation in Ukraine. Before this, the war had felt like a reality show on TV for many, but we gave them the chance to connect with the real-life experiences Ukrainians are living through. We then shared with them stories about missile attacks and how to hide from bombs and drones.

- So, does culture influence people more powerfully than media or news?

- People who create culture and art can indeed be heard better than politicians. It works.

- What makes Ukraine interesting to the global art community? Have you managed to separate the Ukrainian world from the Russian?

- Slowly, but yes. Many art historians are pushing global museums to change the attribution of works by artists who are Ukrainian, not Russian.

For Europe, we are intriguing because we have preserved a school of realist painting, but we have a different visual language and way of thinking.

We live in an age dominated by images, and we must show the world that we exist and what our culture truly represents. For too long, we were viewed as part of Russian culture, and that is partly our fault - we did not promote ourselves during peacetime. If we remain silent, we will continue to be overlooked.

Bomb explosions made from embroidered peonies

- What are you working on today?

- Right now, all my work is focused on the war in Ukraine. However, I try to address this topic metaphorically to reach a broader audience.

Otto Dix's famous paintings of World War II shocked people - the artists of that time showed the horrors of war with decomposing bodies on the streets. Since then, images of violence have become part of mainstream culture.

In contrast, I aim to «mask» these horrifying realities with beauty in my paintings. Currently, I am working on a series called «Substitution». I cover the wounds of soldiers with lilies and depict explosions using embroidered peonies. By using symbols of undeniable beauty, I hope to draw people in, to make them pause and look closer, and only then realise what the painting is truly about.

This is a uniquely Ukrainian ability - to process pain through beauty, aesthetics and harmony. After all, this is exactly what my neighbours do, creating stunning flower gardens in their courtyards between missile attacks

Our «Tree of Life» will grow through the minefields, taking deep roots of revival amid the ruins of Mariupol...

Photos from heroine’s private archive

One warm evening, my love for music brought me to the Kyiv Spring Sounds Festival at the National Philharmonic in Kyiv. They would lure people in with Chopin and the name of the American pianist Kevin Kenner, who is considered one of the best performers of Chopin’s pieces today. At one time, a famous Polish conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski, who worked with one and only Arthur Rubinstein, stated that Kevin Kenner’s interpretations of Chopin were the most expressive ones he had ever heard…

«Ukraine has its own identity and culture that have to be protected»

Kevin Kenner has been supporting Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. He came from America to Kyiv for a concert with his wife, a Polish violinist Katarzyna Cieślik, for a single performance. The musician couple did it on their own initiative and at their own expense. For Kyiv to hear Kenner’s interpretation of Chopin’s concerto №1 for piano and orchestra, the musicians had put all their business aside and covered the distance of half the globe.

- For me, everything going on in your country today is a kind of cultural genocide, and I simply can’t and don’t want to tolerate this, - Kevin Kenner told Sestry after the first movement of the concert.

- Before 2022, I probably couldn’t have named even three Ukrainian composers. I had never heard of Lyatoshynsky, or for example, Kosenko before - and these are outstanding artists.

Their work has become a wonderful discovery for me, and now I am happy to promote this music worldwide. It enriches us and proclaims very clearly that Ukraine has its own identity and culture that have to be protected.

After these words, the pianist excused himself and hurried onto the stage, where, during the concert’s second movement, the orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine was playing Borys Lyatoshynsky (a suite from the music for Shakespeare’s «Romeo and Juliet» tragedy).

But before that, Kevin Kenner suddenly approached the microphone and announced that he wanted to present a close person for him to the audience. A small delicate brunette went up the stage and illuminated the visitors with he smile.

- Meet Yulia, - the American introduced the woman, - she is a Ukrainian, a meeting with whom was gifted to me by the war. And today, she and her children are a part of my family…

In February 2022, right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kevin and his wife, Polish violinist Katarzyna Cieślik, decided to shelter a Ukrainian family at their apartment in Krakow’s centre. Kevin asked his colleague - a Ukrainian pianist, to help him find a family that needed shelter. As a result, the musician’s apartment in Krakow became inhabited by a poet, writer and journalist Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska, who miraculously managed to leave Bucha with her son and daughter alive.

- My wife and I wanted to make the lives of people who became hostages of terrifying events a little bit easier, - Kenner explained. - There are things that we do because we feel like it. Only later did we find out that Yulia was a poet and a writer - a genuine treasure of the Ukrainian culture.

He got to know Yulia personally in half a year after lending her the keys to his home. And then their roads became interlinked - both in life and art. Apart from the previously mentioned concert in Kyiv, he and Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska performed several music and literature concerts in Poland supporting Ukraine. One of them took place in Warsaw, in the Royal Castle. Yulia read her poetry on stage, and Kevin played his favourite music by Chopin and the Ukrainian composers, whom he had discovered thanks to her.

- Our rescue from Bucha and relocation to Krakow were like a moment of miracle for me, - Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska shares with the Sestry. - At the beginning of the invasion, there were such intense fights around us in Bucha that the rumbling of gunshots rarely stopped. There was no electricity, water or gas. At some point, we discovered that they were organising a «green corridor». I remember hesitating for a long time since we had been receiving information that people who left in convoys were getting shot.

On March 15th, my daughter left our hideout. We were all hiding in a cellar together, and then her friends started trying to get us out of that hell in their car. They had one free seat left, and my already adult daughter decided to go. But they got stuck for 5 whole days on the Yablunska street - the «road of death», where most of the cars with people trying to leave were shot up. I had no way to contact my daughter. At first, she stayed with her friends at a house with broken windows, and then they decided to break through. They were letting cars through one at a time. And the cars that came after my daughter’s were shot up…

Me and my son left separately. It was a lottery, I still hesitated and asked God to send me a dream with an answer on how to go on. And then I dreamed of standing at a railway station in Kyiv almost naked and barefoot in the winter’s cold with many people around. And because of this feeling of distress and of being so unsettled and helpless I woke up.

And I thought - no, we will stay, this is our home, and we have a supply of food and matches. But a neighbour came by later and told us that we had 5 minutes to decide whether we were going or not. And my son convinced me. This was the right decision as later my neighbours told me that the occupants had been going from house to house and asking about me.

After escaping Bucha, I was hit by a wave of despair. Where do we go? What do we do?

And then I pleaded: «God, just walk me on your roads the way it’s supposed to be, and bring me together with people I’m supposed to be with»

I wrote on Facebook about my problem. Offers came pouring in - me and my children were invited to France, Italy, Germany… Later, one of the musicians from Kyiv I knew asked me: «Do you want to go to Krakow?» I intuitively answered «Yes». Everything immediately started to fall into place, and unfamiliar people opened the doors of their wonderful apartment in the centre of Krakow to us. They were in America at the time, but they were not afraid of letting strangers into their Polish home.

Kevin and his wife became our guardian angels. When we finally met, they took us for a vacation. They rented a house out in the nature, and we spent over a week together talking. We spent time outside in the fresh air, played games, laughed and organised a concert there with Kevin. Thanks to our friendship, he began discovering Ukrainian music and then sharing his discoveries with his students (Kevin Kenner teaches at Frost School of Music at the University of Miami - Author). He also started performing in a Vyshyvanka (traditional Ukrainian shirt) I gifted him.

The visit of the American pianist and his wife to Ukraine is the fulfilment of Kevin’s promise to Yulia. He promised to visit Kyiv despite the war and play for the Ukrainian people, and also visit Bucha to see the place from which the refugees came to him in Krakow.

- I told Kevin and Kasia a lot about Bucha, and they dreamed of seeing my garden, our house, my library and the books I had been working on. And they fulfilled their promise, though this visit was hard to arrange as musicians of their level have their schedules planned down to the last minute.

They arrived a day before the concert. Before the visit, I asked Kevin what he would like to taste from Ukrainian cuisine.

Kevin ordered borshch and ate two whole plates. And after we had returned from our tour of Bucha, he asked for borshch again

Kevin also visited Vorzel’ and its «Uvarovsky House» Museum of History and Culture (where Borys Lyatoshynsky’s memorial exposition is located - Author) and even played Lyatoshynsky on the museum piano, paying respects to his favourite composer.

Kevin Kenner confessed that the situation with the war in Ukraine has forced him to become a «soldier of music», as Rostropovich said, and to fight Russian aggression and disinformation.

- I have stopped performing Russian music since the beginning of these terrible events, - Kevin Kenner says. - I also encouraged my students and the musicians I know to replace the pieces of Russian composers in their repertoire with Ukrainian works, which most pianists had never even heard of. Among others, I urged them to pay attention to Viktor Kosenko’s works, whose formidable level makes them worthy to perform worldwide. I think that this is a great opportunity to prove to everyone that Ukrainian music is not inferior, it speaks for itself louder than any words.

My interest in Ukraine was stirred up by Putin’s assertions of Ukraine not being a legitimate state and that Ukrainian language and culture are supposedly nothing more than shades of much clearer Russian language and culture. These statements have caused a scandal in the world discourse, made me very suspicious and sparked my interest towards learning Ukrainian history and culture.

I supported the decision of the International Music Federation to suspend the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Because it is wrong - applauding the Russian musicians, exalting the Russian music culture, and simultaneously expressing our concern about Russia trying to commit cultural genocide on its neighbour.

«In Poland, I’ve experienced a turning point: I had outlived the old but had not found the new within»

Yulia Berezhko-Kaminska returned home a year after her evacuation from Bucha but she confesses she still dreams about «her» home in Krakow.

- I had been getting used to the bed for so long over there until I bought the same pillow I had at home - before sleep I needed to imagine for at least a moment that I was in my room. And after returning to Bucha, I couldn’t come to my senses for a week: I was thinking of Krakow the whole time. It is now my hometown as well.

Shortly afterwards, the house in Krakow, where Yulia and her children had found shelter, became a centre of Ukrainian culture.

- Kevin and Kasia gave us the opportunity to not just live but to invite Ukrainians over and arrange music and poetry evenings, - the heroine reminisces. - That house has a rather spacious hall with two grand pianos. A month after our relocation to Krakow we began giving concerts and streaming them on Facebook.

I have also written an essay called «Communion»: how we, Ukrainians, having found ourselves in such a difficult life situation, returned to our normal lives thanks to these musical evenings. For a long time, we were afraid to live, drink wine, or even taste candy since we thought it would be a crime against people in Mariupol, who had nothing to eat. Poetry and music pulled us out of this.

Yulia says that there, in the Krakow apartment, she had been born for the second time:

- My «Gravitation of the Word» book was brought to me in Krakow - I sent it into print two days before the war. The book was first presented in Poland but I felt a certain turning point in my art, as if I had outlived the old but had not found the new within. Alongside this, my personal life has also changed- I got divorced during the war, and when I left Ukraine, I met my 40s. It is a turning point for a woman to realise that you are not the way you were before - but what are you now?

In Krakow, Yulia could not write for a while, but then essays began to be born as if ice was melting from her soul.

In her first essay «Krakow - Bucha» Tram» the woman described her experience and outlined the moments from her return home where the garden would blossom, a dog would jump and a cat would meow from the tree, the animals she had not seen for over a year (they remained with her ex-husband in Ukraine). She visualised how she would run into her room, walk through the whole house, and meet her old life:

- We came back exactly when the garden blossomed, - Yulia smiles. - And the tram that would rumble outside my windows in Krakow (it took a couple of months to get used to the fact that it was the rumbling from the tram, not the war) - I imagined I could get onto it and it would take me home. And when Kevin and Kasia appeared at my doorstep in Bucha, I told them so: «Well, the tram from Krakow to Bucha has arrived!»

Over the year in Poland, Yulia Kaminska-Berezhko has created several books. The idea behind «The Rhyme War», which included poetry from over 80 Ukrainian poets, was born in Krakow, where it was compiled, wrapped up and presented in May 2024 in Kyiv. The «Ukrainians in Poland: A Rescue Story» book was prepared for print in Krakow, Yulia cooperated with the Institute of Literature of Poland while creating the book. Berezhko has already managed to create a new book with the same institution called «Reflections on the Most Important» - translations of radio performances of modern Polish authors to Ukrainian, made in her edition. Yulia has many cultural plans regarding Poland. After all, someone has to build these cultural bridges between us.

- Today I feel colossally thankful to life. After all I’ve been through, I realise that life - is a big miracle, - Yulia concludes. - And I’m also thankful to Kevin and Kasia, who essentially have given me faith in people and that the good must win.

Photos from the private archive of heroes