The National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Arts is one of the largest art museums in Ukraine. Located on the territory of the national Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve in the premises former metropolitan chambers and the adjacent Annunciation Church, which are architectural monuments. The museum collection was founded in 1899 as one of the components of the collection of the newly formed city Museum of Antiquities and Arts, renamed in 1904 Kiev Art, Industry and Science Museum.
Now the museum collection consists of more than 75,000 works of traditional folk and professional decorative art of Ukraine from the 15th century to the present day. These are household items of various materials, shapes, decorations and purposes, transformed by the hands of talented craftsmen into highly artistic works. All of them have clearly defined regional differences. The works of professional decorative artists show the use of established folk traditions and the tendency to create complex spatial compositions with figurative and associative content.
The museum exposition, which occupies an area of 1,500 square meters, presents all types of folk art of Ukraine: carpet weaving, weaving, printed material, embroidery, ceramics, wood carving and painting, artistic processing of leather, horn and metal, glass, porcelain, Easter eggs painting, folk painting and iconography. The pride and decoration of the collection are the complexes of Ukrainian folk clothing of the 19th – early 20th centuries from all regions of Ukraine, where the art of cutting, weaving, embroidery, applique, heel-printing, weaving, leather and metal working was combined in a single artistic ensemble. Traditional women’s jewelry attracts attention: rich people, corals, Venetian necklaces, beadwork.
Rarities of the museum’s collection are a wooden carved cross in a silver frame from 1576, clay tiles from the 15th-18th centuries, Cossack pipes and powder flasks from the 18th-19th centuries, silk woven belts from the 18th century, church embroidery items embroidered with gold and silver threads from the 18th century, and thickened glass from the 16th century. 18th century, products of the leading porcelain and earthenware enterprises of Ukraine of the 18th-19th century: Kiev-Mezhygorsk faience factory and Volokitinsky porcelain factory.
The museum has the largest collection of works in Ukraine by the People’s Artist of Ukraine Maria Prymachenko, which consists of more than 500 fairy-tale and fantastic compositions. In a separate room, paintings by People’s Artist of Ukraine Ekaterina Bilokur are presented. They are rightfully considered the pearl of the museum’s collection and belong to the treasury of world art. Various exhibitions systematically introduce admirers of folk decorative art to the works of contemporary artists and to works stored in the museum’s collections.
Where is the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Arts?
Lavrskaya street, 9, building 29
Wed-Mon: 10:00 – 18:00, Tue: closed
280-36-93, 280-58-12, 254-36-42