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Ceramist Viktor Kushchenko teaches children of migrants. And raises money for a clay mixer

June 17 2022 at 03:29 pm | Kostiantyn Golubtsov

Six years ago, modern ceramics by Viktor Kushchenko from Kyiv were demonstrated at the exhibition and attracted so much attention that since then the artist has been holding pottery workshops for children and adults almost every day.

Today, the KUST ceramics studio team already has six employees.

They dream of returning. Children from Kyiv and Mariupol who live in Vorokhta built a house

During the war, the demand for pottery training was low, but Kushchenko found a job by organizing open workshops for children of migrants in the Carpathian branch of the studio in Vorokhta.

And immediately faced a problem - a shortage of clay. The main deposits of ceramic clay are located in the Donetsk region, in the blocked Slavyansk.

Victor Kushchenko and his bizarre sculptures

“Instead of clay from Sloviansk, you can use scraps of dry clay, which has accumulated 40 tons in the warehouse. To return the breed to a workable condition, the masters of the studio grind it by hand - and would practice much faster if they had a special mixer. The cost of such is 102 thousand hryvnias, ”says Viktor.

Kushchenko already had a successful crowdfunding experience - he raised 25,000 hryvnias for a stove for roasting children's products, which he built in the yard of the Vorokhta House of Culture.


Victor conducts a master class with children in Vorokhta


Victor Kushchenko owner of a ceramics studio

“The children we started working with in Vorokhta spent almost a month without water and heat in Kyiv region. When they went home, even more injured children from Donbass took their place. Clay allows me to concentrate on the result - my students have already sculpted cups and postcards that they sent to the military at the front. If we have the material to work, we will attract more children and maybe launch workshops for adults in Vorokhta. "

How to support?

A clay mixer is needed to provide the studio with clay for at least a year. The price is 102,000 hryvnias.

You can donate via the link using a special fundraising service. Or you can send it to ours  PayPal marked for Victor

https://www.keepgoing.com.ua/stories/keramist-viktor-kushchenko-navchaie-ditey-pereselenciv-i-zbiraie-koshti-na-mikser-dlya-glini