The city hosted the pottery festival “Living Tradition”, which brought together ceramic artists from various regions of Ukraine. Potters from Kyiv, Lviv, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region, as well as local artisans from Sosnivka and Sheptytskyi, took part.
Throughout the day, there was intensive creative activity at the festival venues. Visitors had the opportunity to try their hand at the potter’s wheel, paint a clay bell, purchase original ceramic pieces, learn how to tie a traditional headscarf, make a motanka rag doll, and try weaving on a berdychok loom. Guests were also treated to food from a field kitchen provided by the military and concert performances by young artists.
A separate part of the programme was dedicated to the history of Sokal ceramics. Researchers Halyna Ivashkiv and Romana Motyl gave lectures on the development of local pottery. In particular, in 18th–19th century archival documents, Halyna Ivashkiv found references to at least 54 potters from Sokal. According to her, the artisans of that time lived close to one another, were in regular contact, stood as godparents to each other’s children and attended each other’s weddings, while their ceramic tableware was in demand among the intelligentsia.
The festival materials stressed that examples of Sokal ceramics are now preserved not only in museums in Kyiv and Lviv, but also in collections abroad. Unique pieces can be seen, for instance, in the Austrian museum in Kittsee near Vienna, as well as in the museum collections of Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Lublin and Przemyśl.
The final chord of the eventful day was the ethnographic performance “Wedding” at the People’s House, staged in accordance with ancient Ukrainian traditions. Festival guests, inspired by the history of Sokal ceramics and the creative atmosphere, joined in this spectacle, which rounded off the celebration of pottery and traditional crafts.