Rojzelach and Oymá of Jewish and Crimean Tatar Masters of Ukraine

The book presents the origins, main stages of development and artistic features of paper-cutting art pieces common among the Jewish and Crimean Tatar peoples living in Ukraine. The material is chronologically considered and analyzed in the context of evolution of the Ukrainian paper cutting art. Among the Jewish population, papercuts have become widespread since the mid-XIVth century. Over a few centuries, typical compositions of these decorations have been formed, most of which were made in the form of a rectangle of vertical orientation with with a mirror-symmetrical image. Radial symmetry is characteristic of ornamental patterns (rosettes, squares, rectangles). It is important that in museum collections of Lviv are preserved the rarities of this kind of decorative art dating from the early XXth century. Upon World War II, due to the Holocaust, this kind of art had faded for a long time; yet, in the last quarter of the XXth century, we can observe its active revival.Display units in collections of Ukrainian and foreign museums, as well as works by modern artists testify to the fact that papercuts of Jewish and Crimean Tatar masters of Ukraine are a bright multifaceted phenomenon.