Paraska Plytka-Horytsvit Museum, Kryvorivnia

In the Verkhovyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, there is a village called Kryvorivnia, known for the fact that the director Sergei Parajanov once filmed his epochal film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors here.

But besides this, Kryvorivnia has another pride. There is a house in the village that every tourist who comes here wants to visit. This is the museum of Paraska Plytka-Horytsvit, a Ukrainian Hutsul artist, photographer, writer, storyteller, folk philosopher, folklorist, ethnographer, and "Homer of Hutsulshchyna." In the house where the writer lived and worked, there is an exhibition consisting of her belongings, statuettes, photographs from her personal archive, and, of course, books, of which P. Plytka-Horytsvit published more than 50, but in a single copy, accompanied by her own illustrations.

Paraska Plytka-Horytsvit was born into the family of blacksmith Stefan Plytka, who knew several foreign languages, which he taught his daughter. Her mother was a weaver and was engaged in artistic embroidery. After the end of World War II, Paraska was arrested for her participation in the Ukrainian national liberation movement and exiled to Siberian camps for 10 years.

When she returned home, she was only 27 years old (she was rehabilitated as a juvenile convict). However, she always emphasized that such spiritual treasures as love and mercy, from which she always drew her inspiration, helped her survive in the difficult circumstances of her life. After returning to the Hutsul region, the artist embodied her dreams and impressions in her own sketches.

The author worked in the style of folk primitivism. Her distinctive oeuvre includes icons, portraits of prominent historical figures, and a series of drawings dedicated to prominent Ukrainian writers such as Taras Shevchenko, Lesia Ukrainka, and Ivan Franko. In the museum, you can get acquainted with her famous album "The Fate of a Hutsul", the plots of which are autobiographical. In addition, she managed to compile 16 volumes of her own selected works in handwritten and typewritten versions. She created poetry and prose, wrote verse, fairy tales, and even a fantasy-adventure novel, Indian Sunsets; her diaries are also preserved here. The woman was often misunderstood by her fellow villagers because of her original thinking and special views, so she was forced to step away from being an active member of the community. Her own life was spent in proud solitude among the beauty of nature, mountains, forests, Cheremosh, and wonderful creativity.

Today, the museum is run by the village community, and tourists are left with an exciting impression of the color and originality of her works.

In the house that became the Tile-Horytsvit Museum, her books deserve special attention. In them, the writer and poet wrote down her works and made illustrations. Here you can also find documentary information about her life and work. In addition, Paraska was engaged in icon painting: three holy images occupy a worthy place in the church of the village of Kryvorivnia.

TheParaska Plytka-Horytsvit Museum in Kryvorivnia, near Verkhovyna, is a tribute to the folk artist and writer and is a monument of Ukrainian history.

The house-museum is located at the following address: Ivano-Frankivsk region, Verkhovyna district, Kryvorivnia village, Grashparovka village.