Secret traditions of birch bark

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Each nation has developed original traditions in the manufacture and decoration of even the most ordinary household items. In the past, objects made from local plant materials occupied a large place in the life of a peasant; they were widely used by northern hunters, inhabitants of the taiga and mountains. They have become so accustomed to the everyday life of the people that even joking sayings such as: "If only it were not bast and birch bark, the peasant would have collapsed."

Elasticity, water resistance, heat resistance, resistance to decay, lightness and beauty made it possible to use it in the construction of houses, structures, in the manufacture of fishing tools, dishes and utensils, in shoemaking: shoes, frames for women's hats were made from birch bark, they drove out tar, produced coloring solutions.

Women kept their jewelry, handicraft accessories, scraps and small things in birch bark clucks - small birch bark baskets. Particularly popular were cupboards for storing kvass, beer, milk, pickles and pestles for picking mushrooms and berries, road salt shakers of various shapes, toys. In connection with the enormous socio-economic transformations in our country, the need for many traditional rural household items has disappeared. But the need for products made of birch bark of a highly artistic level, combining the beauty of proportions, skillful selection of materials in color and texture, never disappeared. Modern man especially appreciates hand-made grace and originality. All this makes this uncomplicated vessel not just a handicraft product, but a work of traditional folk art, which embodied the idea of many generations of craftsmen about the beauty and expediency of birch bark products. There are a lot of their names, and the names reflect both the local peculiarities, where they originated, and the originality, the influence of different peoples on each other - Vepsians, Karelians, Komi, Maxi, Nanais, Russians, Ulchi, Finns.

The simplest in form and manufacture of products can be made right in the forest - buckets, scoops, chumany, crumbs, bowls, etc. Other products require special preparation in the preparation of material and the process of their execution - tues, boxes, boxes, etc.

The purpose of the proposed manual "Secrets of birch bark" is to give the reader an understanding of all stages of working with birch bark, starting with its harvesting in the forest, processing. All this requires a lot of patience, rough work, up to the final result. All products offered to the reader have a utilitarian meaning in everyday life. We consider products that are technologically advanced in execution, without the use of glue. The material is presented with a sequential complication of the forms and methods of their implementation. Perhaps the publication will help master teachers in organizing and teaching others interested in folk art.

The material is presented on the basis of many years of experience working with a birch bark master and teacher Mikhail Stepanovich Kochev, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. The book is intended for a wide range of readers. Can serve as a teaching aid for group lessons, as well as for self-study.