Art and tradition at the National Museum of Ethnography, where an egg painting workshop was organized
Folk craftsmen, technology education teachers, doctors, housewives and even a tourist from Central Africa took part in an egg colouring workshop at the National Museum of Ethnography. They followed step by step the advice of one of the youngest and most valuable ethnologists in Romania, Sebastian Paic, on the technique of egg decorating with wax and successive colour baths. The event was organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute "Mihai Eminescu".
Ludmila Gonța left the household chores and came to learn what she had failed in her childhood.
"My mother used to paint and it seemed to me that my mother would live forever and I would prove that I could learn, but I didn't and here I want to learn, so that I can pass it on", says housewife Ludmila Gonța.
"With difficulty, my hand is shaking. We divided, as the teacher said, into eight rectangles and further on we will make the Star of Bethlehem or the Star with eight corners. I want to take it to my students at school, at least they will get to know this art", says folk craftswoman Parascovia Pasat.
"I will go home, practice and, I hope, this year at Easter I will have eggs on the table, with traditional signs practiced in the Romanian area," says pharmacist Andreea-Natalia Rusnac.
A tourist from Africa has also joined the group in wanting to learn the technique of egg painting.
"I'm passionate about history and traditions and I want to organise workshops at my hotel in Burundi to promote traditions," says Emeir Rakeza.
In the art of egg-wrapping, we are at the stage of recovering traditions, says ethnologist Varvara Buzila.
"There has been a visible break between what was once practised in our villages. I think, after this event, many more villages will return to their natural traditions," says Varvara Buzilă.
"It is a very old pre-Christian custom, which was associated with the Easter holidays, but it is a symbol of life, birth and rebirth of nature. Seeing how many people there are and the joy with which they participate, I am filled with spiritual energy. It's a great joy," says Romanian ethnologist and museographer Sebastian Paic.
"The event is organised in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute. It is a very nice exchange of experience between Sebastian Paic and our craftsmen", says Petru Vicol, director of the National Museum of Ethnography.
Sebastian Paic has held three egg painting workshops in the Republic of Moldova. He has previously shared the secrets of this traditional art in several European countries.
