Daruvaty|дарувати (meaning ‘to give’) is a one-on-one experience and evolving exhibition centred around the intricate art of Pysanky, a Ukrainian tradition handed down through generations of Liesel’s family.
Pysanky (singular: Pysanka) are colourful, intricately patterned eggs, traditionally made at the arrival of spring and gifted as expressions of friendship, goodwill, and a desire to protect against harm. Each is made over several hours using a wax-resist method, with every symbol and colour imbued with meaning. It is believed that while making a Pysanka, you are in a meditative state of love, sending your wishes to those you intend to gift the egg.
Through small making sessions with Liesel, members of the public are invited to consider what they wish for Launceston, inscribing their offering onto the surface of a community Pysanka to be gifted to the city.
As the day unfolds, each new inscription builds another layer of colour and meaning, until the final reveal in the early evening, when melting away the wax unveils a Pysanka born of multiple voices. Each day produces one community Pysanka, later exhibited for all to admire: a collective time capsule of Launceston’s offerings, longings and dreamed futures.
