The International Humanitarian Association “We Are Ukrainians” continues to highlight the activities of each member of its organization who helps bring Ukraine and the world closer to victory over totalitarianism, aggression, and the evil brought to our land by the Russian Federation. Today we present some information about the work of the Deputy Head of the IHA “We Are Ukrainians,” Ukrainian textile artist, author of GLOW ART, and diploma holder of the “Book of Records of Ukraine,” Tetyana PROTCHEVA.
Tetyana Protcheva’s intellectual embroidery has changed perceptions of Ukrainian craft. Her embroidered works that glow in the dark create a unique emotional effect.
At present, Tetyana Protcheva continues to promote and build a worthy image of our country. At the beginning of the war, she worked as a volunteer at the EXPO Dubai international exhibition. This was already her third EXPO exhibition (after Japan 2005 and Shanghai 2010), where she presented Ukrainian culture through her innovative GLOW ART embroidery. This helped develop economic relations between Ukraine and other countries. She is now continuing her mission in the United States.
As Tetyana herself shares, two weeks before the end of EXPO Dubai, two American women, Karen Winker and Gloria Siegel, approached her. They are real estate agents who came to Dubai for a conference. Karen asked where Tetyana would return after EXPO, knowing that there was a war in Ukraine. At that time, the artist did not know what to do. Two days later, these women sent her an invitation to the United States.
She now lives in their home in Florida. Traveling across different states, the artist introduces foreigners to the culture of Ukraine. According to her, this encourages Americans to support Ukraine more. The more people know about a country’s culture, the more they trust it.
On Ukraine’s Independence Day, she presented her innovative international art project “Ukraine is My Home.” From photographs of events of the war in Ukraine, she created a QR code “UKRAINE,” which, when scanned, opens Google news about Ukraine. She sent this artwork to Ukrainian embassies and consulates abroad, as well as to public organizations and Ukrainians living outside the country. Tetyana continues to develop new directions of her GLOW ART practice.
GLOW ART representative Ukrainian Ivanna Bazmani creates QR-code embroidery kits and distributes them in Dubai. In Ukrainian churches in the United States, Tetyana Protcheva holds creative meetings and GLOW ART therapy workshops. This provides psychological support to refugees and Ukrainian families whose relatives are currently in Ukraine. She even encoded the prayer “Our Father” into a QR code. A priest said it could become the first digital church.
In the United States, she came up with the idea of creating QR-code printing stamps (for traditional textile stamping), which contain links to image-building resources about Ukraine. She presents traditional Ukrainian embroidery and stamping in modern QR-code forms. She received a patent for a method of creating QR embroidery schemes for clothing decoration in March 2022.
Fragments of ancient Ukrainian ornaments in modern interpretation are ordered by designers for clothing and accessory decoration. After Dubai, Tetyana participated in a charity auction in Luxembourg, invited by Oleksandr Donets, a representative of the “Ukraine – Luxembourg Business Club,” after he saw her works online. She donated part of the proceeds from the auction to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In September, portraits made with GLOW ART embroidery were presented by the FREE UKRAINE organization in Belgium, in the city of Antwerp.
In Canada, together with activist Kateryna Navrotska-Rohovska, they are planning next year to present the “Ukraine – MY HOME” project. As an active promoter of Ukrainian culture, she hopes to find partners interested in opening a GLOW ART gallery in the United States, Dubai, Canada, or other countries.
According to her, everyone can make their own contribution to bringing Ukraine’s victory closer, and she does so through embroidery art and participation in charity events.
Article from the archive of the public organization “International Humanitarian Association “We Are Ukrainians” dated 05.10.2022
