More and more artists of the Mykolaiv Region are absorbed by Tavrian painting, which, thanks to a deep folk wisdom, opens a wide space for self-expression. Its motifs are actively introduced into different kinds of decorative art by masters of the NGO “Cultural and Artistic Association ‘Art-Temptation’,” who keep and share the unique heritage of our land.

“Art-Temptation” was founded in Mykolaiv on 13 January 2022. As its head, Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine and laureate of the M. Arkas Regional Prize Valentyna Kryvtsova, has said, the Association was created with the aim of reviving and restoring the Ukrainian traditions of the Mykolaiv Region, of keeping the creative achievements of local artists and of drawing them into exhibition work. Today it has gathered more than twenty makers of the southern land, among them both experienced masters and amateurs taking their first confident steps in art. Among the well-known artists is the leading bearer of Tavrian painting, Liubov Paraniuk.

Valentyna Kryvtsova (left) and Liubov Paraniuk (right)

Although the period of forming of the Cultural and Artistic Association “Art-Temptation” coincided with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the revival of Tavrian painting became one of the key directions of its work. Already in June 2023 the largest exhibition of that time based on motifs of Tavrian painting, In the Blue of Sky and Sea, was held at the M.  Kropyvnytskyi Central City Library.

Participants of the exhibition “In the Azure of Sea and Sky,” 2023

A significant event in the cultural life of the region was the carrying of elements of Tavrian ornament into embroidery. The project “The Mykolaiv Vyshyvanka Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting” began in April 2023. Together with the Public Organisation “Adult Learning and Education Center ‘South’,” the masters of the Association acted as trainers and embroiderers, recreating on the cloth of shirts the ornaments with which houses on Kinburn were once decorated. The next stage was the embodiment of the idea of creating a protective rushnyk in the corresponding style. The theme proved so absorbing that the work continued in the following years as well. The embroidery schemes designed and images of the finished pieces entered the series of handbooks Embroidery Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting.

Presentation of the project “The Mykolaiv Vyshyvanka Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting.” March 2023. Mykolaiv Regional Local History Museum

Later, at the invitation of PO “ALEC ‘South’,” the collective of “Art-Temptation” joined the carrying out of large regional projects on the identity of the land, namely: “Tavrian Painting,” “Lights of the South. People-Lighthouses,” “Identity of the Mykolaiv Region: Past, Present and Future.”

Preparation for the exhibition: R. Sikalenko (left), V. Kryvtsova (right)

Through 2023–2024 exhibitions directed toward the support of the traditions of the Mykolaiv Region were held: Easter, The Feast Embraces the Earth, Festive Snowfall, whose displays contained author’s works with Tavrian painting. Bright summaries of the keeping and development of this kind of making were the displays On the Waves of Sea and Steppe, We Are Three Years Old, and others.

Throughout the whole period of its work “Art-Temptation” organises solo exhibitions at which works based on motifs of Tavrian painting are shown in techniques of many kinds. Among them are the pysanky of Honoured Master of Ukraine Tetiana Uliankina, the tapestries of Nataliia Mazur-Stepaniuk, quilling panels and embroidery by Tetiana Veremiienko, decorative painting by Oksana Davydova, narrative compositions by Lesia Saikovska, original illustrations to the legends of Yevhenia Bondarenko and the Tavrian angels of Svitlana Boikova-Kaliuzhna, wool felting by Olena Mishchenko, and the achievements of other gifted artists.

By their inspired labour the artists actively support Ukrainian soldiers. In 2024 the Association joined the all-Ukrainian charity action “A Drawing of Hope.” In order to hearten fighters who are in treatment and undergoing rehabilitation after being wounded, they presented creative works based on motifs of Tavrian painting.

Masters of the Association are regular participants in fairs and festivals of souvenir production. In 2024–2025 this was the annual December fair “Tavryka Unites!”; in 2025 — the large festival “The Blue-Eyed Pearl of Mykolaivshchyna.”