Oposhnia

Oposhnia

 

an urban-type settlement in Zen’kov Raion, Poltava Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, on the Vorskla River (a tributary of the Dnieper), 45 km north of Poltava. The principal industries are the production of art objects, ceramics, asphalt concrete, and bricks. The settlement also has a creamery and a poultry incubator.

Since the 19th century Oposhnia has been a center for Ukrainian folk art, notably ceramics and weaving. Its ceramics—dishes, toys, and decorative tiles—are known for their variety and rich decoration. They are covered with patches of color, essentially large stylized floral designs, which emphasize the generalized nature of the decoration. The traditions of such artists of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries as F. Chir-venko and V. V. Porosnyi are being developed by the artists M. S. Kasha, I. A. Bilyk, V. A. Biliak, T. N. Demchenko, G. A. Kiriachok, and A. F. Seliuchenko. The ceramic tiles used for decorating buildings are often made according to architects’ sketches.

REFERENCE

Dmytriieva, Ie. M. Mistetstvo Opishni. Kiev, 1952.