WEBVTT 00:00:00.566 --> 00:00:03.432 [Music] 00:00:03.433 --> 00:00:04.699 Beeswax, 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:07.733 candles and different color dyes - all you 00:00:07.733 --> 00:00:09.999 need to transform a plain white egg 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.466 into a work of art. Toronto folk arts 00:00:12.466 --> 00:00:14.799 organization Kusa Collective hosted 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:17.200 seven workshops where friends 00:00:17.200 --> 00:00:19.333 families and couples around Toronto 00:00:19.333 --> 00:00:21.033 gather together to decorate their 00:00:21.033 --> 00:00:22.866 Ukrainian Easter eggs. 00:00:22.866 --> 00:00:25.599 It's called pysanky. The word came from 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:26.400 pisantha. 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:29.033 It means to write. Designs are drawn on 00:00:29.033 --> 00:00:29.999 the eggs in the 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.866 Asian Ukrainian technique. First choose a 00:00:32.866 --> 00:00:33.832 design. 00:00:33.833 --> 00:00:35.666 A lot of Ukrainian patterns are 00:00:35.666 --> 00:00:38.399 geometric and one of the instructors says 00:00:38.400 --> 00:00:40.466 there is something unique about it. 00:00:40.466 --> 00:00:42.066 "Ukranians definitely have the most 00:00:42.066 --> 00:00:44.132 detailed patterns 00:00:44.133 --> 00:00:46.799 and I think that's something that's also 00:00:46.800 --> 00:00:48.633 just been developed here. Like people in 00:00:48.633 --> 00:00:49.666 Ukraine don't even 00:00:49.666 --> 00:00:52.299 know sometimes." Once you have picked out 00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:53.100 your design, 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:55.200 draw it on the egg with a hot wax pen 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:56.466 called kiska. 00:00:56.466 --> 00:00:58.232 You have to hit the head of it in the 00:00:58.233 --> 00:01:00.466 flame of the candle until the wax is 00:01:00.466 --> 00:01:01.432 melted. 00:01:01.433 --> 00:01:03.733 Using the wax protects the eggshell and 00:01:03.733 --> 00:01:05.733 keeps the pattern in shape. 00:01:05.733 --> 00:01:07.899 Next you need to color the egg by 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:09.900 dipping it into dyes. 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:12.000 When it dries you can add more lines 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:12.933 with wax. 00:01:12.933 --> 00:01:14.866 These additional lines will be kept 00:01:14.866 --> 00:01:16.699 under the wax in the color shade you 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:17.833 choose. 00:01:17.833 --> 00:01:19.733 You can work through many different dyes 00:01:19.733 --> 00:01:21.733 but it has to be from light colors 00:01:21.733 --> 00:01:24.399 to the darkest. In the final stage you 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.233 heat the egg next to the flame to melt 00:01:26.233 --> 00:01:27.333 the wax off. 00:01:27.333 --> 00:01:29.599 Then your delicate design will appear. 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:32.300 This syria workshop costs $25 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:34.133 but it offers an opportunity to 00:01:34.133 --> 00:01:36.233 experience the taste of Eastern European 00:01:36.233 --> 00:01:36.633 art. 00:01:36.633 --> 00:01:39.099 "It's interesting and anybody can be a 00:01:39.100 --> 00:01:40.233 part of it. Doesn't matter if you're 00:01:40.233 --> 00:01:41.899 you're Ukrainian or not. 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:45.666 So, that's fun I guess." These pisenka 00:01:45.666 --> 00:01:47.832 workshop is one of several events that 00:01:47.833 --> 00:01:49.999 teach different Ukrainian art forms. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.000 For the Kusa Collective members it is 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:53.500 more than just art. 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:54.800 They say it is about bringing 00:01:54.800 --> 00:01:56.800 communities together to share Ukrainian 00:01:56.800 --> 00:01:58.400 culture. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.800 Kusa collective is composed of six 00:02:00.800 --> 00:02:02.933 ladies of Ukrainian heritage. 00:02:02.933 --> 00:02:05.433 It all started in 2010 when they found 00:02:05.433 --> 00:02:07.599 their common interests in folk art 00:02:07.600 --> 00:02:10.133 and revitalizing culture crafts they had 00:02:10.133 --> 00:02:11.433 lost touch with. 00:02:11.433 --> 00:02:13.666 It's possible to preserve and practice 00:02:13.666 --> 00:02:15.499 any culture in a diverse city like 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:16.300 Toronto, 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:18.000 but they say they still don't want to 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.466 see their grounded tradition fade away 00:02:20.466 --> 00:02:23.032 under the pressures of the fast pace of 00:02:23.033 --> 00:02:23.999 life today. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:25.900 "It's something that reminds me of home 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:27.600 and that i'm very comfortable with 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:30.800 and it connects me to others. So yeah 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:32.133 I've been working alongside Kusa 00:02:32.133 --> 00:02:33.666 collective for a while and now we work 00:02:33.666 --> 00:02:34.866 together." 00:02:34.866 --> 00:02:37.199 And there are some who restored the past 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:37.900 memories 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:40.300 thanks to the pysanky workshop. "This is 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:41.500 my culture. 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:43.500 Being Ukrainian I've never done this in 00:02:43.500 --> 00:02:44.533 my life and it's an 00:02:44.533 --> 00:02:47.599 opportunity to try something that goes 00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:49.733 way back in my heritage." 00:02:49.733 --> 00:02:51.666 Olenka even said there were certain 00:02:51.666 --> 00:02:53.666 moments where she could see the culture 00:02:53.666 --> 00:02:55.032 being preserved. 00:02:55.033 --> 00:02:57.433 "And so through these workshops I've seen 00:02:57.433 --> 00:02:59.733 a lot of people who already know how to 00:02:59.733 --> 00:03:03.033 make pysanky. They tend to be 00:03:03.033 --> 00:03:05.433 people of families who have been in 00:03:05.433 --> 00:03:08.233 Canada or the US for a few generations 00:03:08.233 --> 00:03:10.066 and then there are some people who come 00:03:10.066 --> 00:03:11.832 like those two women from tednap 00:03:11.833 --> 00:03:14.133 region in Ukraine. They came last week 00:03:14.133 --> 00:03:15.433 and it was the first time they made a 00:03:15.433 --> 00:03:16.066 pysanky. 00:03:16.066 --> 00:03:19.199 They heard about it and they knew people, 00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:20.866 elderly people in their village who knew 00:03:20.866 --> 00:03:22.132 how to make them but they didn't know 00:03:22.133 --> 00:03:23.733 how to make it because they didn't have 00:03:23.733 --> 00:03:24.399 that 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.266 available to them back home. So there in 00:03:27.266 --> 00:03:29.332 a way is a certain revival." 00:03:29.333 --> 00:03:31.666 But it doesn't stop here. The royal 00:03:31.666 --> 00:03:33.832 pysanky reaches out to help 00:03:33.833 --> 00:03:35.266 others in need. 00:03:35.266 --> 00:03:38.299 Because pysanky 00:03:38.300 --> 00:03:40.000 are just such a sacred beautiful thing 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.433 that it seems like that's just like the 00:03:41.433 --> 00:03:42.699 right thing. You're making this beautiful 00:03:42.700 --> 00:03:44.633 thing at Easter. It's always been 00:03:44.633 --> 00:03:46.399 like a prayer and you should give it to 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.400 somebody or do something special with it. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.266 It's not like 00:03:49.266 --> 00:03:51.432 just any old craft. It's kind of special. 00:03:51.433 --> 00:03:53.199 So the idea was to still 00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:55.200 do it for charity, um to bring people 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:56.533 together in this way." 00:03:56.533 --> 00:03:58.466 They have donated around two thousand 00:03:58.466 --> 00:03:59.999 dollars each year for four 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.133 years. They haven't decided where to 00:04:02.133 --> 00:04:03.999 donate this year's money, 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.400 but it will be either a rehabilitation 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:07.200 center or 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:09.600 scholarship program. I'm 00:04:09.600 --> 00:04:15.033 Jenna Yoon, Ryerson TV News.