Upcycling textile workshops with Vasylyna Buryanyk​

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Photos credit: Ivanna Turianina

 

The economic impact of war is palpable. Ukrainian award-winning artist Vasylyna Buryanyk highlights this topic within her exhibition “Paid on Credit” which is open for visitors from 21st February until 21st March 2025 in the creative hub PROSTOR in Split. 

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During her one-month stay as an artist-in-residence supported by Culture Moves Europe, she developed and communicated her artistic approach in which she criticizes the current state and several military conflicts initiated by the Russian Federation. Those wars have as a consequence not only human suffering but also systemic blows to ecosystems and collective ecological security worldwide. 

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The impact of war in general, but especially the use of chemical weapons, the destruction caused by military equipment and the produced and left-behind waste is scientifically well-documented, for the Russian Federation in particular as well as other warring nations.

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Instead of yielding to the status quo, of succumbing under the burden of worldwide waste, Vasylyna Buryanyk engineered several artistic and practical approaches to tackle and circumvent waste and scraps such as plastic or cellophane. Therefore, Culture Hub Croatia, one of the partners of the Craftwork4all project, invited Vasylyna to facilitate the Craft Lab in PROSTOR, on the topic of textile upcycling. 

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During two afternoons, in both English and Ukrainian, Vasylyna instructed a group of 15 participants on how to repurpose and upcycle plastic, textile, cellophane and other waste materials. By combining these materials in an artistic and decorative way, everyday objects can be transformed into unique, sustainable pieces. This includes packages of groceries, plastic bags or empty bottles of soft drinks. In this sense a transformation not only takes place within the studio but also outside, when spotting apparent waste and identifying usefulness as a second life for artistry.

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The workshop, designed for small groups, allowing for individual attention and support, introduced not only a novel approach to upcycling and art which can be continued at home, but also a practical discourse, combined with the exhibition visit, about the Russian war in Ukraine and the situation on-site. 

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Vasylyna prepared the plastic decorative pieces in advance by cutting, melting and rearranging them into various forms and colors. Each participant placed their choice of cut plastic parts on a pre-arranged piece of fabric. Color and design were left to their imagination: for example, a recreation of a flower or something more abstract. 

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Once the design was complete, the plastic was fused with the fabric using an iron, after covering it with baking paper and cooling it afterwards with a pot filled with cold water. The design was finished by placing the fabric into an embroidery hoop to sew around the applied decorative plastic pieces. Participants were able to merge vastly different pieces of plastic collected from kitchens, bathrooms and the street with fabric to create an individual artwork that gives cloth and plastic a second life.

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The overall satisfaction with the workshop was excellent. All participants were very satisfied with the experience and highlighted the new perspectives not only towards art and crafts but also in relation to the everyday life and environmental impact of plastic. Participants were delighted by the possibilities to create absolutely beautiful things from seemingly irrelevant material. Vasylyna Buryanyk introduced artistic approaches of upcycling and repurposing plastic waste in such a way that several members of the workshop commented on the opportunity to continue practicing this new technique independently at home. The long-lasting effect of textile upcycling with plastic waste consequently initiated conversations about the theoretical and practical implications of the origin of waste and ways we can all make a positive change.​​