Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The costume of west Polissia and Zavolikannia embroidery, Ukraine and Bielorus

Hello all,

Today I will be talking about the costume of western, or Volynian Polissia, which includes the northern parts of Volyn, Rivne, and part of Zhytomyr oblasts, as well as southwestern Bielorus. There is a style of embroidery practiced in the western part of Polissia, and not much elsewhere. In Ukrainian it is called Zavolikannia, Perevolikannia, Peretykannnia, Pidbyruvannia, and also other terms. It is a type of darning stitch, like Nyz or Nyzynka. The distinction is that in Zavolikannia, the threads journey the length of the design, rather than across  the width of the design, as in most types of darning stitch. Above is a modern Ukrainian man's shirt executed in this technique.
I have been speaking of Polissia in several articles, It's about time i provided a map. Polissia is a cultural-physical region which follows the wetlands at the edge of the deep forest along the northern borders of Ukraine and beyond. Here is a map. The hatching shows the extent of Polissia beyond the current borders of Ukraine.



A large portion of Bielorus is also part of Polissia [Palesie]. This is the only border of Ukraine where there is a gradual gradation of dialects to another language, from Ukrainian to Bielorussian. These two neighboring peoples share much history, and are closely related. The Ukrainians and Russians moved into the steppe regions and encountered each other later, after their two languages had already diverged. There is a large Ukrainian population still in Bielorussian Polissia, especially in the west. Polissia extends somewhat into Poland, where they call it Podlasia. I have already done an article about the costume of that region.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-costume-three-countries-nadbuzhansk.html 

Much of the clothing native to this region is based on woven ornament, especially in the western part. Here are two photos of typical costume of the region. This one is from western Podillia on the Ukrainian side, typifiying the costume of northern Volyn' and Rivne Oblasts.



 And here is a photo of the costume of southwest Bielorus, which they call Zakhodne [western] Palessie.


 You can see that cross stitch has made inroads here, as most everywhere, but the major ornament is woven in red, with  a small admixture of black, on a background of white linen, or white and unbleached linen woven in stripes or designs. Here is another example from the Ukrainian side.


Here is an example from the Polish part of Polissia around Wlodowa [Volodova].




 and another example from Bielarus, from Baratynichy, Kobryn region.



 Taking a close look at this costume, the chemise, Sorochka has the standard Slavic cut  with shoulder insets.
 

As you can see from the images, in western Polissia, there is no ornament on the bottom hem of the chemise, and it does not show beneath the skirt. The shoulder inset has horizontal ornament, and the sleeve may have either horizontal or vertical ornament, and the placement and number of bands of ornament varies quite a bit. The collar often folds down, but band or stand-up collars are also known.




The linen skirt in this region is called 'fartuch', which in most places refers to the apron, and the apron is called 'perednyk' [front piece].  Here is  a closeup photo of the back view of one of these skirts.


Here are closups of the woven ornament on the chemise and skirt shown above.





 The embroidery technique Zavolikannia is a straightforward attempt to copy this type of woven ornament. Any design embroidered in Zavolikannia may also be woven in pick-up. The needle imitates the shuttle. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a piece is embroidered or woven. Here are some designs embroidered in Zavolikannia.


The embroidery is done mostly in red, often with narrow black or blue edges and/or centers. The thread runs the length of the design and runs under and over an even number of threads. Most of the time, the next thread follows the exact same path, and then the third thread jumps two threads to make the next element of the design.


Here is one way of graphing this kind of design. Each square on this graph represents two threads vertically and two threads horizontally. Of course, the back side shows an exact reverse of the design.




Because there are two threads traveling the same path, there  is a stepwise progression to the design, unlike the smooth diagonal lines of Nyz. 




Because of this, it is possible to graph these designs with squares.



This has led some people to execute these designs in cross stitch. In my personal opinion, this should never be done, the designs seem to me to be obviously meant to be done in either pick-up weaving or Zavolikannia. Just because a design is graphed in squares does not mean that it is meant to be done in cross-stitch.






Just a few more examples of this technique.



While this technique is most often found in western Polissia, examples can be found as far east as Kieven Polissia, where it is often combined with other embroidery techniques.


 Here are a few more examples of Zavolikannia designs.



 
I will close with a couple of images of the costume of west Polissia.



 
 

Thank you for reading. This is for Yulia Honcharova. Pryvit!
I encourage all of you to try this embroidery technique, and bring a part of old Polissia into your homes.


Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals. I also choreograph and teach folk dance.
Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com


Source Material:

S. H. Kolosa, I. V. Hurhula, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Mystetsvo - Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1961
Tamara Nykolaieva, 'Ukrainian Costume: Hope for a Renaissance, Kyjiw {Kiev], 2005
M. S. Bilan, H. H. Stel'mashchuk, 'Ukrajinskyj Stryj' [Ukrainian Folk Attire], L'viw, 2000
Oksana Kosmina, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Vbrannia' [Ukrainian Folk Dress], Kyjiw, 2009
Vadym Myronov, 'Ukrajins'kyj Kostium', Kyjiw 1977
Oksana Kosmina, 'Traditional Ukrainian Clothing vol 2', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2011
V. Myronow, 'Ukrajinskyj Kostium', Kyjiw [Kiev[ 1977
Z. Vasina, 'Ukrajinske Narodne Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2009
M. Ramaniuk, 'Bielaruskaie Narodnaie Adzennie', Minsk, 1981
Hatal's'ka & Ivashkiw, 'Poetyka Volyn'skoho Vbrannia', Luts'k, 2005

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

East Polissia Costume with Talijka, or skirt with bodice, Ukraine



Hello all, 


Today I will continue my discussion of the costume of Eastern Polissia. Above is a painting by Zinaida Vasina showing the three types of costume found in this region.The seated girl is wearing a plakhta with a brocade apron and a Yupka, the girl standing on the left is wearing the costume with andarak, and the woman on the right is wearing the garment known as Talijka. This is often referred to in Ukrainian books simply as Spidnytsia z Nadhrudnykom, or 'skirt with bodice'. This is only found in some pockets in eastern Polissia, in Zhytomyr,


 Chernyhiw, 




and Novhorod-Sivirskyj regions, along the northern borders.




It may be tempting to see this as a Ukrainian version of the Sarafan, but in fact, the construction is quite different. The talijka is a skirt gathered into a bodice, which usually buttons up in front. The Sarafan is a skirt with shoulder straps which is worn just below the arms and has no waist and no bodice. Here is an image of the typical Russian Sarafan.




Here is a front and back view of the talijka.







This type of garment is very common in Scandinavia and Central Europe, in fact it reminds me very much of the costume of Mezőség in Transylvania, but is not at all common in Eastern Europe. There are similar garments worn in Bielorus along the Dnipro, and in Russia in Voronezh, both of which are rather close to this area, but it does not resemble the typical Russian or Bielorussian costume any more than it does the Ukrainian. Here is a girl's costume from Biriuch, east of Voronezh, in Russia, about 500 miles east of the region we are discussing.


While this garment has a superficial resemblance, in fact it is cut like a typical Sarafan, there is no seam at the waist and no bodice.

This garment is very odd because the typical Russian costume all along the Ukrainian border consists of the Poneva, not the Sarafan, and even in this region the sarafan is only worn by unmarried girls. I do not believe there is any connection between this garment and the Talijka.


The Bielorussian Saian seems to be related, however. Here are front and back views of the costume of Krasnapolle region, Mahiliow Province, Belarus.






Note that while this garment has shoulder straps resembling the sarafan, there is a seperate bodice into which the skirt of the garment is gathered. 
This garment is always worn with a chemise whose hem shows below the talijka, and an apron belted at the waist, as is the case with almost all Ukrainian Costumes.




The talijka can be made of various materials, most commonly of a dark wool with ribbon trim, but may also be made of cotton print.




The apron is commonly of linen with the typical red and black cross stitch or other technique which is also used on the chemise.




Or the embroidery on the apron may be a free form floral satin stitch. This may also be done on the chemise. This is a more recent type of embroidery.




The use of free form floral embroidery has a longer tradition on aprons and other outer garments made of wool or colored cloth.




Like the Andarak, the Talijka may also be embroidered.




You will notice the seam across the top which provides fullness for the bust. This seam is visible in the drawings above, where it gives the appearance of a yoke. This cut is also found in some Dirndles of south Germany and Austria. 
 The Talijka may also be fitted in the bust, as in this example.




 There is no doubt that this is a relatively recent garment, but it can form a harmonious part of Ukrainian Costume, as unusual as it is. Perhaps I should count this as a 6th type of Ukrainian Costume, but It is quite uncommon.
Most likely this garment is derived from the skirt [andarak, litnyk] traditional to this area, combined with the short vest without peplum common over much of Polissia sewn together into one garment. This is unique in all of Ukraine. Here are a couple of images of Polissian costume with skirt and the short vest. You can see the similarity.






Thank you for reading, I hope you have found this interesting and informative.
Make embroidered garments part of your everyday life.




Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals. I also choreograph and teach folk dance.
Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com


Source Material:
Vira Zaichenko, 'Vysywka Chernyhiwshchyny' [Embroidery of the Chernyhiw Region], Rodovid Publishers, Kyjiw [Kiev], 2010 
S. H. Kolosa, I. V. Hurhula, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Mystetsvo - Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1961
Tamara Nykolaieva, 'Ukrainian Costume: Hope for a Renaissance, Kyjiw {Kiev], 2005
M. S. Bilan, H. H. Stel'mashchuk, 'Ukrajinskyj Stryj' [Ukrainian Folk Attire], L'viw, 2000
Oksana Kosmina, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Vbrannia' [Ukrainian Folk Dress], Kyjiw, 2006
Vadym Myronov, 'Ukrajins'kyj Kostium', Kyjiw 1977
Oksana Kosmina, 'Traditional Ukrainian Clothing vol 2', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2009
V. Myronow, 'Ukrajinskyj Kostium', Kyjiw [Kiev[ 1977
Z. Vasina, 'Ukrajinske Narodne Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2009
S. Gorozhanina, 'Russkij Narodnyj Svabednyj Kostium', Tver, 2003
M. Ramaniuk, 'Bielaruskaie Narodnaie Adzennie', Minsk, 1981
 Тамара Косміна, Зінаїда Васіна "Українське весільне вбрання" , Київ, 1989
Tamara Kosmina, Zinajida Vasina 'Ukraijins'ke Vesil'ne Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1989