Assouline's deep-dive into Ukrainian art and design reveals a rich and influential heritage

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, artists in Ukraine were drawing from an eclectic prism of crafts to create work led by instinct, rather than formal training. The naïve art movement, as it was dubbed, tapped into a greater tradition which sought to give shape to a raw emotion, through mediums as diverse as wood painting and embroidery, to carving and objet d’art.

Now, this body of work is the subject of a new Assouline book, a project led by Ukrainian design and fashion brand, Gunia Project, who deep dive into the works, as well as tracing their later influence on the modernists.

‘For a very long time, Ukrainian art was viewed internationally through an imperial and, later, Soviet lens,’ the Gunia founders say. ‘As a result, many artists, movements and the sources that shaped them were detached from their Ukrainian cultural context or absorbed into the much broader narrative of the so-called “Russian avant-garde”.

‘When we look more closely at the environments in which many of these artists developed, however, we begin to see the significance of folk art, rural visual culture, embroidery, decorative painting, icons, vernacular objects, colour and traditional geometry. For us, restoring these connections is not about rewriting history in the opposite direction. It is about making that history more precise, more nuanced and more complete.’

Throughout, the works speak to these connections within a broader history of European art by placing works in context, uniting well-known and lesser known works in a respectful restoration of living, evolving Ukrainian culture.

By presenting the history of this craft, Gunia Project is shifting the emphasis to the future. ‘For us, documenting a craft in an archive is not enough. For a tradition to remain alive, it has to remain relevant and practised,’ the founders say.

‘This is where contemporary design can play an important role. It can give a traditional technique a new function, a new context and a new audience. At Gunia, we work with craftspeople across Ukraine and with a wide range of techniques - from blown glass and weaving to ceramics, embroidery, carving and wickerwork. It is essential to us that this knowledge does not exist solely as a demonstration of the past, but remains a viable profession and part of contemporary life. Perhaps one of the most meaningful ways to preserve a craft is to allow it to evolve.’

'Naïve My Love: Ukrainian Art of the 20th Century' is published by Assouline. The creative direction and content were led by Mariia Gavryliuk and Natalia Kamenska, the founders of the Ukrainian brand Gunia Project, with the idea of collaboration itself initiated by the GOGOLA media agency

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