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Mobile Spider Christmas Ornament (Pavuk) Workshop

Presented by Ukrainian History and Education Center

Paper “Straw” Mobiles, also called Pavuk, were traditional ornaments made of dried straw that were strung on string (originally horsetail) and fastened to create a 3D mobile.

***Due to the limited number of available places for this program, please cancel your reservation if you are no longer able to attend. 

 For Ukrainians, the harvest season was the most important and fruitful part of the year. Starting in the harvest season when crops were collected, straw and hay were dried and stored for use in the winter season. Straw symbolized fertility, growth and health. The pavuk (spider) itself is considered a symbol of the universe. On Christmas Eve, the spider was hung on the central beam of the house. Sometimes a candle was placed under the spider and when heated the spider began to turn around reflecting shadows on the walls. People believed that these were the shadows of the souls of past
ancestors who came for the holidays.
During this ninety-minute workshop, participants will make their own mobile “spider” ornaments out of paper straws to hang in their homes during the holiday season.

Presenter: The Ukrainian History and Education Center’s mission is to connect generations by telling the stories of Ukraine and Ukrainian Americans through its museum and archives. The UHEC has fulfilled this mission through rotating exhibitions, public access to archives, educational and cultural programming, and online resources that increase the appreciation of Ukrainian history and culture among non-Ukrainians and help Ukrainian Americans better understand their roots. Located in central New Jersey along the New York-Philadelphia corridor, the UHEC has one of the premier US-based collections of artifacts and documents relating to Ukrainian history, culture, and the Ukrainian-American immigrant experience. The UHEC museum permanent collection consists of over 15,000 objects of folk art, fine art, and objects related to Ukrainian culture, history, and religious beliefs and practices. The UHEC archives holds hundreds of collections documenting the cultural, religious, and political history of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the United States. It also has one of the largest collections of Ukrainian recorded sound and radio programming in the world, including over 1,500 cassette and open reel tapes, over 2,200 78 rpm shellac discs, and over 2,000 vinyl records. The UHEC also operates the Nashi Predky/Our Ancestors Ukrainian genealogy outreach program, which presents workshops, conferences, and online webinars that introduce family historians not only to genealogy research methodology, but also to the complex history and culture of Ukraine and the surrounding region.

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