Curious visitors have been heading to the Arabian Center to know more about the Middle East's first Egg Art Exhibit being organized by Dubai Summer Surprises 2009.
As a unique craft on its own, Egg Art is practiced by relatively few artists and ten international artists are showcasing their works of almost 300 eggs at the exhibition.
Among these international artists is the President of the Korean Art Guild, Kim Kyung-Ah. The Korean Art Guild is a duly recognized association of the egg artists that Kim Kyung-Ah founded in Korea two years ago. The guild, which now has 50 members, aims to create awareness about the art and to educate people in the proper manner of doing egg art. Kim Kyung-ah has been a professional egg artist for 11 years. Her creativity dates back to her early days, especially during her university degree in Arts. She also gained a Master's degree from the International Egg Art Guild. Kim Kyung-Ah has participated in egg art shows in America, Asia and, now, in the Middle East. She is a two-time winner of the grand prize in the California Egg Art Show supported by the California Egg Art Guild.
Cristina Serediak, a professional and practicing Paediatrician from Argentina, is an egg artist on the side. She hails from a Ukrainian decent, and declares that this heritage brought her to the unique art of designing eggshells or “pysanka'' in Ukranian language. She shares that her visit to Ukraine 15 years ago inspired her to bring its famous traditional egg art to Argentina. Cristina Serediak claims that gifting colorful and decorated eggs started way back 6000 years ago in Ukraine while the Pysanka Museum in the country is said to be the central manifestation on the importance of egg art in its culture.
Cristina uses her original Ukranian customs on the designs of her works that reflect symbolisms. In her own written book “Pysanky'' she defines the meanings of the lines, shapes, colors and other elements in her art pieces. Based on the Ukranian symbolisms, hens protect the children, horses give men strength and big hens provide women fertility during marriage. The DSS Egg Art Exhibition is her first participation in an international show, and she hopes that she will be able to share the beautiful custom of gifting egg artworks and the meaningful symbols detailed in the intricate craftsmanship.
On the other hand, the famed Hungarian egg artist from Canada, Eva Ceke, was a teacher turned egg artist. She was working at the Girls and Boy Scouts Club in Ontario when she found amazing interest in eggshells. At one time, when she was doing her research on how to design Easter eggs other than painting it, she discovered the beauty of an egg with its shape, color and texture.
That moment prompted her to create beautiful pieces out of eggshells and her inspiration filled her to learn more about egg art. Now, after 17 years of practice, Eva Ceke has her own unique way of doing the egg art.
She is among the few egg artists in the world that design eggs through embroidery. Her distinct artistry earned her an amazing line of egg artworks worthy of a collector's attention, and she wrote a book titled “Egg Spero by JEVA: How to Embroider a Real Eggshell.''
Respected folk handicraft artist Kati Zsigóné, from Kalocsa (Hungary), began her craft when she was just a child. Her mother influenced her a lot in doing various handicrafts, and she even recalled her saying: “A woman is beautiful when doing needlework.'' Over the years, she found various ways of exploring the creative arts, something that made her a constant figure in the local media.
She paints coffered ceilings and creates canvases mostly of equestrian themes. She also decorates walls and folk furniture in traditional Kalocsa patterns. She creates etchings for plates and vases. She prepares tablecloths, blouses and vests. But, most of all, she is an egg artist who uses 11 different techniques to decorate eggs.
For years, she has utilized almost 300 types of patterns for eggs of hens, ducks, geese, emus and ostriches. She coins herself as a "bunny of the country" and "queen of egg painting". Moreover, Kati Zsigone is the author of two books: “How to Make Nice Painted Eggs'' and “Decorating Eggs with Professional Touch.''
Learn more about the craft and enjoy the display of beautiful pieces of art at the Egg Art Exhibition that opens daily from 10am to 10pm at the Arabian Centre, and runs until August 8.
