Victoria Yakusha reloads Ukrainian folklore into contemporary design

Ukrainian Folklore – Faina collection by Victoria Yaskuha – All photos: courtesy of Victoria Yaskuha.

London 2018 – Ukrainian ancient traditions are translated into Victoria Yakusha’s FAINA furniture collection. The series includes Trembita, a design inspired by archaic musical instruments which pastors used to play to communicate across valleys and mountains.

Ukrainian Folklore - Trembita by Victoria Yaskuha.

Trembita vases.

“Through the FAINA collection, I wanted to reflect the whole life force of energy that has been encapsulated over the Ukrainian folklore and land for centuries – as I feel it, in a modern interpretation,” says Victoria Yakusha to Archipanic.

The FAINA collection features quirky armchairs, a set of ceramic vases, a wooden rounded panel and a charred furniture inspired by Trembita pipes, ancient woodwind instruments measuring from 3 to 8 meters and able to sound for 50 km.

Trembita player – Courtesy of Victoria Yakusha.

Trembitas entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest musical instrument in the world. Under the tubing of Trembita pipe once passed the whole life of Hutsuls – a western Ukraine ethnic group. Long before the mobile phone era, the woodwinds informed about sheep going to the pasture, heavy rains and storm, death or birth in the village.

“Trembita for me is the embodiment of the ‘voice’ of our ancestors, who trumpets us about the main thing – the ability to live simply, without frills, enjoying the gifts of nature and not destroying it,” adds Yakusha.

Trembita vases.

The FAINA collection, which debuted at the London Design Fair, include also Bandura, a set of ceramic vases inspired by Ukrainian folk musical instruments as well. “The spiritual nature of music blends with the design and initiates a dialogue with the invisible through the language of the notes.”

Ukrainian Folklore - Bandura by Victoria Yaskuha

Bandura vases by Victoria Yaskuha.

Toptun low back chair conceals a neat geometrical shape with a light and playful design, while Lono rotating armchair embraces its guest with a high upholstered back rest. The decorative panel Syto: a circular wooden frame and metal net refer to the shape of a sunflower, a sacral symbol in Ukrainian art and culture.

Ukrainian Folklore - Toptun by Victoria Yaskuha

Toptun armchairs.

With the FAINA collection, Victoria Yakusha aims to “reflect the whole life force of energy that has been encapsulated over the Ukrainian land for centuries – as I feel it, in a modern interpretation. Globalism, individualism and minimalism are trends of the present and near future. However, the series pursuits a deeper respect for timeless objects”.