Rushnyk

A rushnyk or rushnik (Russian: Полотенце ручник, Ukrainian: рушник, Belarusian: ручнік, ručnik, Rusyn: ручник) is a decorative and ritual cloth. Made of linen or cotton it usually represents woven or embroidered designs, symbols and cryptograms of the ancient world.^[1] They have been used in sacred East Slavic rituals, religious services and ceremonial events such as weddings and funerals.^[2] Each region has its own designs and patterns with hidden meaning, passed down from generation to generation and studied by ethnographers.

There are many rushnyk collections in ethnographic museums. In Ukraine, the Rushnyk Museum is located in Pereiaslav, Ukraine as part of The Museum of Folk Architecture and Way of Life of Central Naddniprianshchyna. A Russian rushnik collection is housed at the Hermitage Museum.

^ A Language of Their Own Rushnyky are mirrors of a nation's cultural ancestral memory. The ritual ornaments on rushnyky preserved archaic magical signs, symbolism of colors and artistic folk styles, Kozak baroque and rococo as well as classicism, all of which continue to amaze us and are cherished to this day. They have a language of their own — cryptograms that have been forgotten but not lost.[1]
^ Yakiv Bystrov, Marcin Kleban, Anna Niżegorodcew (2011). Developing Intercultural Competence through English: Focus. Jagiellonian University. p. 94. ISBN 9788323384366.

[1] A Language of Their Own Rushnyky are mirrors of a nation's cultural ancestral memory. The ritual ornaments on rushnyky preserved archaic magical signs, symbolism of colors and artistic folk styles, Kozak baroque and rococo as well as classicism, all of which continue to amaze us and are cherished to this day. They have a language of their own — cryptograms that have been forgotten but not lost.[1]

[2] Yakiv Bystrov, Marcin Kleban, Anna Niżegorodcew (2011). Developing Intercultural Competence through English: Focus. Jagiellonian University. p. 94. ISBN 9788323384366.

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