Children from a primary school in Sefton have seen their artwork go on display this week in the run up to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Pupils from St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School in Bootle have been working with visual artist Nicola McGovern to decorate an egg, which was today (30 March) unveiled at Liverpool ONE.

Ukrainian and Eastern European tradition

Inspired by the Ukrainian and Eastern European tradition of egg painting, Pysanka Eggs is a partnership between Liverpool ONE and Liverpool City Council.

The project is part of EuroLearn, made possible thanks to generous funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund with additional funds from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Funding from Spirit of 2012 will also support EuroLearn as well as the future evaluation of Eurovision’s benefit to the city region.

Sounds We Love 

The display features seven eggs, one for each city region plus one for Ukraine. The Sefton egg called Sounds We Love is inspired by the nightingale, the national symbol for Ukraine,

Nicola explains: “The story goes that the bird came from India and sang songs to cheer people up. So, our egg explores sounds that make us feel good.

"This ties in really well with the themes for the EuroLearn programme of mental health and well-being, home and sanctuary. Pupils illustrated sounds they love from home, nature, instruments and favourite activities and these drawings have been included in the final design of the egg.

“There is also a night-time cityscape of Liverpool and Kyiv painted on the egg, which celebrates the links that Eurovision 2023 has created between the two cities, and a heartbeat, which unites us all.

"The sounds we love and the cityscapes are encompassed in an overall structure inspired by Pysanka, the Ukrainian and Eastern European tradition of egg decorating. 

“EuroLearn has been a great project to be involved in because it encourages a wider audience to get involved in Eurovision. The children participating have been so imaginative and excited about working with an artist in their schools. I hope they have fun trying to identify all the sounds on our egg when they visit it on display in public.”

Egg-cited

Rachael Chadwick, Deputy Head at St Benedict’s, said: “We are very excited about Eurovision being held in our city so it was wonderful to be part of this project. The children offered interesting and varied responses on the theme of ‘sanctuary’ and it was a fantastic experience for them to work with a professional artist. We can’t wait to see the eggs on display!”

Year 5 pupil Freya Romano added: “It was fun working with the artist. I think the egg will look really nice. I’ll go to see it with my mum.”