The fact that Ukrainian embroidery is made by people who never studies this art makes it incredible. It is about an oral tradition. I remember when my grandmother was embroidering one of my shirts with shimmering colors, bent on the white cotton fabric she was piercing through and through with love and generosity. I admired this person who was at the automn of her life. I can still see her skillfully making these delicate embroideries. Every region perpetuates a style with different patterns and with its own range of colors. An informed eye is able to recognize where a person comes from. Embroidery in Ukraine is so deeply rooted in the traditional culture, like the pyssanka (Easter painted eggs), that it was prohibited and considered as an act of nationalism during the Russification period of recession. If people wore it they could be emprisoned. Embroideries presented here are antiques preserved with care in the Hutsul ethnographic museum of Kolomeya in Ivano Frankivsk’s region. Some of them are more than 100 years old. They used to be making when the field works were over, during winter most of the time. It is unlikely to think that such a subtle work was made by candlelight over long weeks. These works date from a time when electricity was not present in villages. JI took these photos for the needs of a book about Hutsul embroideries (people living in the Ukrainian Carpathians) for the French embassy in Ukraine. During several days, bent on a table, while I was taking the photos, I had the idea to revive these costumes with the help of villagers acting as models. This exhibition about the art of the Hutsul embroidery was born while the book HUTSUL EMBROIDERY was in preparation. It was exhibited in Kiev, Lviv, and Kolomiya in Ukraine.