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Romania's Easter eggs become popular decorative objects

When Ioana Matei learned to decorate eggs with her grandmother for Orthodox Easter using beeswax and red dye, she never imagined her creations would seduce people beyond Romania's borders. "I think people are getting tired of objects which are mass produced. They are looking for handmade things, things done with the heart", she told AFP as she drew floral and religious designs on duck eggs in Niculesti, her home village nestled in the picturesque hills of southeast Romania. Millions of Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter this weekend. In eastern Europe, they exchange painted and decorated eggs, seen as a symbol of rebirth, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If most people paint them with a single colour to give them to family and friends on Easter Sunday or leave them on the graves of their loved ones, artisans like Ioana Matei have transformed egg decoration into a highly developed folk art, which is gaining international recognition. Decorated eggs from Ukraine and Romania have been showcased in exhibitions in New York, Rome and Brussels. The technique of decorating eggs is similar to that used for African and Asian "batik" with melted beeswax and dyes. In Ukraine, these eggs are called "pysanki" while in Romania they are "incondeiate". Matei decorates eggs from her own ducks and geese and sometimes ostrich eggs. After emptying and carefully washing them, she uses melted beeswax to trace out designs. Her hand steadily draws flowers, crosses or designs inherited from her grandmother and inspired by life on the farm (a plough, horse reins...) The part covered with beeswax stays white while the rest of the egg goes red when it is plunged in dye. At the end, the wax is removed with the help of a candle. "It is a very meticulous and lengthy job but I love it. When I decorate my eggs, I forget all my worries", she says. She often works at night: "I give up some sleep to do something beautiful", she says, smiling. She uses mostly red dye as a symbol of the blood of Christ. "In Bucovina, northern Romania, ethnic Ukrainian women have created intricate designs using several colours and complicated patterns but in southern Romania, ornaments have remained simpler", says Ioana Popescu, director of the research department at the Romania's museum on popular arts and traditions, one of the leading such institutions in Europe. Legends attached to the eggs are also numerous and vary from region to region in a country known for its melting pot of cultures, with about 20 official minorities (Ukrainians, old Russians, ethnic Hungarians...), she adds. "The decorated eggs are made to be kept and admired for their beauty. They have become much appreciated gifts, including abroad", Popescu confirms. "Lots of foreigners have bought my eggs. They like them as decorative objects in their house", Matei explains, whose work has been exhibited in Italy and Germany. "For Westerners these eggs look exotic. In Italy, we saw people ready to pay very high prices for them", Popescu says. Decorated eggs price can range from two to up to 100 dollars depending on the size of the egg, their pattern and if they are ordered from abroad or bought in Romania.