It was Saturday, Indian summer, 25 degrees Celsius in October – a great opportunity to go on an ethnographic expedition to the villages of Bohuslavshchyna! Actually, that is what the team of the “Around Us. UA” NGO exactly did, making their way to two villages at once – Rozkopantsi and Teptiyivka.
In Rozkopantsi, we were to meet a man who plays many musical instruments. However, this time we were not lucky enough to meet him, though we managed to enjoy and film the beautiful countryside scenery of Bohuslavshchyna in autumn.
Therefore, without losing enthusiasm, our expedition team headed to Teptiyivka. There we had two people to visit: 92-year-old Tetiana Kravchenko and the son of Teptiyivka’s famous master spoonmaker Mykhailo, Petro Tsarenko.
First, we came to Tetiana’s house, where we also met her daughter, Olha. She was born in the village of Karandyntsi, and her parents worked on a collective farm. She tells us that during the Second World War, “under the Germans”, her house burned down. Tetiana had to work since she was 11 years old, and at that age, she joined the collective farm. Before the war, she managed to finish 3 grades, and afterwards, she finished the fourth grade at an evening school and then started working.
Even though Tetiana confessed she didn’t remember much, she told us a whole bunch of interesting stories and shared memories, as well as performed various songs: wedding songs, songs to bid farewell, and songs from the Christmas cycle.
The lady recalls that she learnt to sing from her father: “We were singing with my father, and it was during Lent, and my mother was scolding us. And my father would say, ‘Sing it out loud, daughter! ‘ And mom would scold us for singing.” The song remained with Tetiana through adulthood. After she got married, she moved to Teptiyivka and started working on a farm, and from there they went to Pyrohovo with the band to recreate a traditional wedding and sing Ukrainian folk songs. “I only saw the world when I travelled to Pyrohovo,” recalls the lady.
“Let’s sit down, Mummy, and have a weep, let’s sit down, Mummy, and have a weep. Let’s share all our good things. For you, sister, a barrel of sour milk. For me, mother, a chest of skirts. For you, mother, a spindle, for you, mother, a spindle. For me, mother, a towel. Wake up, mother, early on Saturday, wake up, mother, early on Saturday, wash my grey head. You won’t do it again, you won’t do it again, you won’t beat my white hands,” Tetiana shared this wedding song with us. She also told us about the traditions of wedding celebrations, about her own wedding, showed us some wedding photos, as well as a bridal shirt she had embroidered herself and a belt she had given us to keep and recreate. You can watch Tetiana’s story about wedding traditions by following this link.
Tetiana also shared her memories of the Christmas celebrations, telling us what they used to cook, how they used to sing carols, how they used to call ‘Frost’ to serve ‘him’ kutia (a ceremonial grain dish with sweet gravy), and how they used to honour their ancestors and commemorate their loved ones, who deceased. Kutia was made from rice and uzvar (stewed fruit drink). It was put in the sacred icon corner and covered with hay. Afterwards, they believed that the first hair found in that hay would hint at what cattle they should keep, it was a kind of sign. Tetiana also recalls how they used to ‘call’ their ancestors to dinner: “My mother would call them. She would say: “Come to taste kutia, take your whole family and join us for tasting kutia.” At night, we would leave everything we ate on the table, we didn’t clean it up, and everything stayed on the table until the morning. I remember, when my mother called, the candle would burn and flicker. I could see sticks on the wall as if someone had come. God only knows whether it’s true or not.” Watch more in our video report.
We also talked about the celebration of Easter and the remembrance days: “Earlier, there were no priests on the days of commemoration of the departed (Provody), so the women themselves were in charge, because the service was not allowed in the Soviet Union.” Interestingly, Karandyntsi also holds the commemoration day on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist. At the same time, this tradition is not typical of other villages in Bohuslavshchyna: “We used to cook dinner there. Women used to go from house to house, gather food and cook it. Everyone would come, the whole village, lay down towels and sit on them having lunch at the cemetery. This was only in Karandyntsi. Every year on 11 September. Children were sitting separately, and the old people were sitting separately. They still keep the tradition there. There is no church, but they built a chapel.”
Tetiana also told us about the craft she was engaged in: spinning from hemp, which she sowed herself, and then weaving various products. She even had a special loom at home. We will reveal this and even more in the video, we are currently preparing for you.
Next, we went through the streets of autumnal Teptiyivka to visit Petro Tsarenko. He is the son of a spoonmaker. By the way, the village of Teptiyivka is a genuine centre of this craft.
Mykhailo Tsarenko (Petro’s father) was an Honoured Master of Folk Art of Ukraine, an outstanding artist of traditional folk art. Mykhailo made various wooden products, but first of all, spoons: Cossack, for women, and children, teaspoons, as well as ladles. His creations are kept in many museums in Ukraine and abroad in private collections. In addition, as his son and daughter-in-law recall, he also made toys for his grandchildren and furniture. Everything was made with hand tools! Although this was the master’s passion, he earned almost no money and worked in the village at a water pumping station. For refusing to work in the collective farm, they took away part of his garden, and the teachers and school children came to his house shouting out “Shame!”.
His neighbour taught him the craft of spoonmaking. And then Mykhailo himself, in addition to his own craftsmanship, taught this art to everyone willing to learn it, from all over Ukraine. During our expedition, Mykhailo’s son showed us how to make spoons, introduced us to his father’s tools and, together with his wife, showed us his father’s remaining creations, as most of them were given as gifts to people.
This visit finished our Saturday, and on Sunday we went to Tunyky and Medvyn. We will be sure to tell you more about that as well. Please wait for an impressive video about the craft of spoonmaking.
We would like to thank Liudmyla Rulenko, the village head, for her help in organising the meetings.
