The Mykolaiv Regional Universal Scientific Library joined the sharing of Tavrian painting long before its wide public recognition. At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s the Department of Documents on Culture and Art organised a number of exhibitions of pictures by the artist and researcher Yevhenia Bondarenko, and also creative meetings with the artist. These events became some of the first platforms for the acquaintance of a wide public with an artistic tradition of Southern Ukraine that was little known at that time.

Exhibition of publications “Tavrian Painting — a Pearl of the Black Sea Region,” 2025

In 2016 the Department of Documents on Culture and Art organised an evening of memory, “The Radiant Swan of the Mykolaiv Region,” during which the experience of introducing Tavrian painting into preschool education was presented, methodologies of teaching decorative painting to children were shown, and the artistic legacy of the artist and her role in keeping and developing the tradition were analysed. Especially valuable were the memories of people who knew Yevhenia Bondarenko personally and were witnesses of her work.

Evening of memory “The Radiant Swan of the Mykolaiv Region,” 2016

Scholarly research and local-history work are among the leading directions of the library’s activity. In particular, in 2024, during the scholarly discourse “Folk Wall Painting in the Historical and Cultural Space of the Mykolaiv Region: History — Contemporary Realities,” organised by the Mykolaiv Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, the virtual library note “Wall Paintings in the Ukrainian Tradition” was presented. A continuation of this work was participation in 2025 in the round table “The Introduction of Tavrian Painting into the Educational Process,” with the library note “Materials on the History of Wall Painting in Ukraine from the Fonds of the Mykolaiv Regional Universal Scientific Library and Electronic Libraries.”

Public-awareness work holds a substantial place in the library’s activity. In May 2025, together with the Public Organisation “Adult Learning and Education Center ‘South’,” an ethnographic lecture-presentation was held: “Blue-Eyed ‘Tavryka’: the Mykolaiv Vyshyvanka Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting.” An important event was the round table “The Ornament of Tavrian Painting: Sources, Scholarly Grounding and Possibilities for the Development of the Tradition,” organised within the art-historical studio “Traditions of the Culture of Southern Ukraine” with the aim of drawing attention to the heritage of Southern Ukraine and of joining the efforts of specialists of different fields who work on the development of Tavrian painting. The sharing of cultural heritage was also carried out through the work of the local-history club “BiblioKlio.”

Round table “The Ornament of Tavrian Painting: Sources, Scholarly Grounding and Possibilities for the Development of the Tradition,” 2025

An important part of the library’s work is the forming of information resources on questions of Tavrian painting. The library’s fonds contain books, albums, pictorial publications, scholarly studies, materials of local-history conferences, and also publications in periodicals devoted to the history of the arising, the research, the revival and the contemporary development of Tavrian painting.

Participants of the lecture-presentation “Blue-Eyed ‘Tavryka’,” 2025

Joining scholarly, local-history, informational and public-awareness work, the Mykolaiv Regional Universal Scientific Library consistently helps the research, keeping and sharing of Tavrian painting as a unique element of the intangible cultural heritage of the Mykolaiv Region and an important part of Ukrainian culture.

Sources from the Fonds of the Mykolaiv Regional Universal Scientific Library

1. Bondarenko Ye. Paths to the Lyman: novellas. Ed. Yu. Skyba. Mykolaiv: Ilion, 2007. 88 pp., ill.

2. Bondarenko Ye. Paths to the Lyman: novellas. Mykolaiv: VART, 2009. Part 2 / ed. O. Topchii. 2009. 64 pp., ill.

3. MalynaV. Talents of Prybuzhzhia: photo essay. Odesa: Maiak, 1988. 144 pp., ill.

4. Paraniuk L., and H. Bozhkova. Tavrian Painting. A Unique Element of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Mykolaiv Region. Mykolaiv: MOTsNT and KOR, 2019. 43 pp.

5. Paraniuk L., and R. Sikalenko. Tavrian Painting. Mykolaiv: RVK “Vash polihrafist,” 2021. 80 pp., ill.

6. Paraniuk L., and R. Sikalenko. Tavrian Painting. Mykolaiv: Typography 24, 2022. 78 pp., ill. (reprint).

7. Paraniuk L., and R. Sikalenko. Tavrian Painting. Mykolaiv: Ilion, 2025. 98 pp., ill. (3rd reprint; revised and enlarged).

8. Sikalenko R. Embroidery Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting. Issue 3. The Mykolaiv Men’s Vyshyvanka. Mykolaiv: Ilion, 2025. 47 pp., ill.

9. Sikalenko R., V. Kryvtsova, L. Paraniuk, and L. Saikovska. Embroidery Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting. Issue 2. The Mykolaiv Rushnyk. Mykolaiv: Ilion, 2024. 44 pp., ill.

10. Stepaniuk N., L. Paraniuk, and V. Kryvtsova. Embroidery Based on Motifs of Tavrian Painting. Issue 1. The Mykolaiv Vyshyvanka. Mykolaiv: Ilion, 2024. 49 pp., ill.

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1. Zapisochnа L.  “Paintings of Ukraine — Kinds of Traditional and Contemporary Decorative Painting. The Development of Tavrian (Black Sea) Painting: (on the Basis of the Work of the V. Vereshchagin Mykolaiv Regional Art Museum).” In History. Ethnography. Culture. New Research: 12th Mykolaiv Regional Local History Conference, 21–22 October 2021, Mykolaiv: collected scholarly materials. Ed. O. O. Buberenko et al. Mykolaiv, 2021, pp. 162–165.

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1. Aheiev Yu. “The Steppe, the Lyman, the People of Mykolaiv.” Yuzhnaia pravda, 4 March 2008, p. 3.

2. Bozhkova A. “Tavrian Painting of the Mykolaiv Region.” Vechernii Nikolaev, 22 October 2019, p. 5.

3. Bondarenko Ye. “Images of Tavria. Some Aspects of Folk Fine Art of Southern Ukraine.” Narodne mystetstvo, nos. 2/3, 2002, pp. 80–85.

4. Bondarenko Ye. “Steppe Treasures. Some Aspects of Folk Fine Art of Southern Ukraine.” Narodne mystetstvo, nos. 1/2, 2004, pp. 48–49.

5. Borozdina O., and A. Yakovleva. “Tavrian Painting: We Revive Traditions, We Foster Patriotism: from Experience of Work with Preschoolers.” Doshkilne vykhovannia, no. 7, 2024, pp. 30–35.

6. Ivashko O. “The Return of Tavrian Painting.” Holos Ukrainy, 10 April 2021, p. 14.

7. Ivashko O. “Tavrian Painting Already on Sale.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 8 January 2025, p. 4.

8. Ivashko O. “‘Tavryka’ Inspires, Unites, Greets!” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 18 December 2024, p. 2.

9. Ivashko O. “A Little House in the Zoo Decorated with ‘Tavryka’.” Holos Ukrainy, 12 September 2023, p. 9.

10. “The Cultural Code of ‘Tavryka’.” Vestnik Prybuzhia, 7 March 2024, p. 2.

11. Kurasa O. “Tavrian Legends in the ‘Translation’ of a Master.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 2 October 2024, p. 4.

12. Luhova M. “Tavrian Painting: Lines of the Past That Live Today.” Pivdenna pravda, 20 November 2025, p. 11.

13. “We Have Our Own ‘Code’.” Pivdenna pravda, 14 August 2025, p. 5.

14. “The Enchanting World of Tavrian Painting Opened to the People of Mykolaiv.” Pivdenna pravda, 28 March 2024, p. 4.

15. “A Painted Symbol of the Mykolaiv Region.” Vestnik Prybuzhia, 25 November 2021, p. 1.

16. “The Blue-Eyed Pearl of the Mykolaiv Region.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 13 August 2025, p. 4.

17. Stepaniuk, N. “Tavrian Patterns.” Veresen, no. 1, 2021, pp. 141–154.

18. “Tavrian Painting in Souvenirs.” Pivdenna pravda, 29 January–1 February 2022 (no. 8), p. 1.

19. “‘Tavryka’ Interests Children and Adults.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 7 May 2025, p. 2.

20. “Tavrian Painting Has Reached a New Level of Recognition.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 19 November 2025, p. 2.

21. Khrystova N. “‘Tavryka’: a Hundred-Year Path Between Past and Present.” Vechirnii Mykolaiv, 12 February 2025, p. 2.

22. Cherkesova I. “The Lighthouses of Yevhenia Bondarenko.” Osvitianski vitryla, no. 2, 2004, pp. 123–130.

23. Chernyshova O. “Tavrian Painting: Calling Card and Treasure of the Mykolaiv Region.” Pivdenna pravda, 14 March 2024, pp. 1, 4–5.