Supported by Ambassy of Ukraine (Paris), RTR has conceived and curaed the booth MADE IN UKRAINE at REVELATIONS fine craft fair, that took place at Grand Palais on May 23 - 28, 2019.

With the works by: Oksana LEVCHENYA // tapestry, Daria ALYOSHKINA // paper cut, Gordiy STARUKH  // music instruments, Konstantin KOFTA // leather, Inna PEDAN // wood, Yuriy MUSATOV // ceramics

UKRAINE.

A vast country. Thousands of hundreds of square kilometers of traditions, historical ups and downs, rich soil, healthy appetite, fairy tales, bright clothes, firm religious convictions, high quality standards.

UKRAINE. A free spirit, rebellious, resistant, always opinionated.

On the crossroads between very strongly rooted folklore and traditional skills and techniques, and desire of integration in European and world context, Ukraine artists are exploring, testing, trying, daring.

Through the selection of the works by 6 fine craft artists for the Revelations fair, we can observe 2 distinctive directions taken by Ukrainian creation.

One – is AIR, SONG, MUSIC, RHYME. It’s hard to put it into words, it is floating, touching softly your senses, awakening your inner poet.

Thus, the paper cuts by Daria ALYOSHKINA, called vytynanka, are the modern interpretation of an ancient art. Light imposing panels are embracing the space, filling the room with the shadows of magical animals and plants, epic heroes, or ordinary gestures by ordinary people. Every panel is unique, a result of artist’s tireless pencil drawings, cutter movements and infinite imagination. A sculptor by training, Daria Alyoshkina is making  paper change the space into a 3 dimensional  one.

Her husband Gordiy STARUKH, also used to be a sculptor, discovered and rebuilt an ancient musical instrument, hurdy-gurdy, but in a modern and more sofisticated way.  It is carved and put together from roughly 15O pieces of reused wood, that its creator has collects around Lvov. Each hurdy-gurdy is signed by the artist, who also performs with it in numerous festivals, bringing together the musical sound and his own voice.  

The universe of Inna PEDAN, working with plywood in Kharkiv, is somewhere between the design, the fine craft and the verse. It feels like her head and aspirations are always up in the sky, very far away. She is translating the birds songs, the apple tree bloom perfume, the moon light into the objects, that could carry you far away into your most romantic state.

Another, and sort of opposite direction for the Ukrainian spirit is the call of the SOLID, of the SOIL and  of the CONCRETE essence. And curiuosly, all 3 artists are from Kiev.

Oksana LEVCHENYA launched her tapestry OLK manufacture in 2016. Vertical kilims are a landmark in the craftsmanship of Ukrainian carpet-weaving. An extremely intricate traditional technique, manual weaving, ranging back to the 16th century, with no machines involved,  has been preserved in OLK's manufacturing process. Oksana inhabits the old designs, with its floklore and flowers pattens, with the funky heroes like Yoda, Pikachu or Space Invaders, so the two universes collide and the   different characters unite in a dance.  Oxana Levchenya is also the author of bright masks, mixing up abstract and pop art with traditional craft.

Yuriy MUSATOV brings to life... planets. His ceramic planets look like marble ones, and they seem to be alive, their flesh moving and evolving, like hot lava, as if they were still unfinished.

Konstantin KOFTA creates leather bags and backpacks of rare sophistication, so one carries a work of art on one’s shoulder. They are more like sculptures, inspired by the architectural elements, or by insects, or fruit. The very first Kofta collection, reproducing banal obejcts such as a stone, a bottle or a car tire, was premonitional, just before Maidan revolution, when these objects became weapons and symbols of the free Ukraine.

The Ukranian presence at REVELATIONS reflects its richness and contemporary interpretation of its traditional roots, and the country’s aspiration to move forward ! (text by Liza Fetissova)