How can one not appreciate the beauty of strength of sunflowers? I feel pretty confident they grow in many places around the world. If you have a favorite photo of one, please share in a reply below so we can make a collection.
This came up yesterday in the very inspiring CCCOER webinar on Resilience and Open Education: Supporting Ukrainian Librarians During Wartime featuring @Tetiana Tetiana Kolesnykova, Director of the Scientific Library with the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies (Ukraine), with live translation by @Mira Mira Buist-Zhuk, Academic Information Specialist with the University of Groningen Library (Netherlands).
I cannot recommend more strongly to follow that link and watch the recording. In the Q&A session there was a question from someone (I admit it was me!) asking about a piece of art in Tetiana’s background displaying a sunflower. Here Mira posts the question in Ukrainian and translates Tetiana’s reply:
This picture behind me represents sunflowers. Sunflowers are very special to Ukrainians. It’s one of the symbols for Ukrainian people, one of the favorite flowers in our country. You can find them everywhere, in the fields, but also as decorative flowers. Ukraine is by the way one of the larger exporters of sunflower oil as well it’s one of the important agricultural crops. It’s also a keepsake. I think of it as representing Ukrainians who are positive, full of drive, sunny people, full of energy. Sunflowers really fits into this context and it’s become such a symbolic flower for us.
Share Your Sunflowers!
Can we draw upon Tetiana’s description of the symbolism of sunflowers and share a photograph from where you live that demonstrates this meaning? Please upload your photography, share where the photo was taken, and include a preferred attribution with your choice of a Creative Commons license to share it. And add anything else worth sharing about your sunflower
We will add this to a collection in the OEGlobal flickr account and make that available to all.
Here’s mine:
Sunflower photo by Alan Levine shared into the public domain using CC0
This is among the giant sunflowers (some over 14 feet high) growing last summer next to our home west of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. We leave most of the heads on the plant so now in winter they are a food source for the birds that somehow survive -30ºC temperatures. The structural strength of these flowers amaze me as they are able to stay standing all winter long.
Note- we issued this as a topic last September but its worth redoing for Open Education Week
Okay, it’s your turn! Share a sunflower photo or image or drawing.
