The Secession Days started today in Lviv. During a series of events on June 9-11, residents and guests of the city will be able to learn more about the modern heritage of Lviv.
The program includes lectures, excursions, including to objects that are usually inaccessible for inspection, workshops, presentations of initiatives to preserve and popularize the Secession heritage, etc. The event is timed to the International Day of Art Nouveau, which is celebrated on June 10. The organizer of the Days of Secession is the “Heritage Bureau” LKP.
As Liliya Onishchenko, advisor to the mayor of Lviv on matters of cultural heritage preservation, said, secession in Lviv has its own unique style. She called the buildings of the former insurance company “Dnister” (Ruska St., 20), the National Forestry University of Ukraine (General Chuprinka St., 103), and the former Dyakiv Stock Exchange (Lysenka St., 14-14a) the most striking examples of Lviv Secession. All of them were built by Ivan Levinsky’s firm.
“What is special about the architecture of the actual session in Lviv? Lviv is always perceived by art historians as a Renaissance city. But the Renaissance era does not have as many buildings as the Art Nouveau era. At that time, Lviv was rapidly developing and, of course, architects adopted this style in both art and architecture. And in construction, those architectural traditions that already existed in Europe were followed. And they also began to create their own national modern. This is, first of all, Ivan Levynskyi, who created national examples of the Lviv Secession, in particular with elements of the Hutsul style. Thus, Secession architects often used works of applied art for architecture. And because of this, we see beautiful tiles on our facades, the patterns of which were borrowed from Hutsul tiles for stoves. We see metal decor that was borrowed from Hutsul axes, we also see beautiful wooden elements that were borrowed from Hutsul churches. And this unique Lviv style can become interesting for Europe thanks to the fact that we have joined the international Reseau Art-Nouveau Network community,” Liliya Onishchenko said during the opening of the Art Nouveau Days in Lviv.
It should be noted that in April of this year, Lviv joined the international Reseau Art-Nouveau Network (RANN). This organization is engaged in the study and promotion of Art Nouveau heritage, or Secession or Art Nouveau, as this style is usually called in Ukraine. It flooded the world at the end of the 19th – at the beginning of the 20th century. and consisted in refusing to imitate classical forms and in search of a new style.
Therefore, Lviv now has a platform to popularize its Secession heritage at the international level. LKP “Heritage Bureau” emphasizes: “It is extremely important for us to join the celebration of the International Art-Nouveau Day this year and popularize our heritage among the citizens as well.”
As Khrystyna Lebid, head of the tourism department of the LMR, said, the city is currently developing an updated line of souvenirs inspired by the heritage of secession. A series of brooches with elements from the building of the former insurance company “Dniester” has already been produced. “These brooches are not for sale today. We give them to our partners with whom we communicate in Europe and the world, popularizing our heritage. The package includes a short story and a QR code with a video tour of this house. We have an idea that in the future this brooch and other products with elements of the Lviv Secession will also appear on souvenir shelves. And that, first of all, they were popular not among tourists, but among Lviv residents,” said Khrystyna Lebed.
By the way, more people registered to participate in the Days of Secession events than the organizers expected – about 500 people. Registration for all free events is currently closed.