Weaving has long been an important part of Ukrainian culture, as the most widespread type of folk decorative applied art in Ukraine. Each region of our land has its own history, carried through the centuries, preserving deep traditions acquired by ancestors.
The people of Volhynia also have their own special history. It was here that the world-famous “Volhynian serpanok” was created – an incredibly light and delicate fabric of amazing beauty. It is not for nothing that one of the meanings of the word “serpanok” is interpreted as a light veil, transparent fog, haze.
The "Volyn haze" has been known in Ukraine since approximately the 16th century. The first written mention of it dates back to 1565.
Secrets of making a haze
The serpank cloth is incredibly labor-intensive, its production required a lot of time, effort, and most importantly, skills.
The canvas was made exclusively from a special type of flax called "scaly flax." This variety had white fibers and was easy to spin. While flax was fully ripe for the production of ordinary coarse homespun fabrics, it was harvested for flax without letting the seed pods start to peel. Only in this case could this plant, which is useful for the human body, produce real flax without any impurities.
To ensure that the flax fiber was clean and free of dust, peasant women combed it for a long time and carefully over water, and then pulled it through the water until the thread turned out to be very thin, almost transparent.
The kerchief was woven at home on ordinary looms. The women first washed and starched the finished cloth, and then the real action began - the craftsmen, standing opposite each other, began to stretch the fabric, using stones for this. This was done until the sun began to shine through the fabric, only then was the kerchief considered ready.
At the same time, despite its transparency, the canvas turned out to be very strong.
The fabric was made of snow-white, light and transparent. There was another type of veil – gray, also delicate, but opaque, as it was woven more densely.
Clothes made from kerchief were very beautiful and festive. They were often used to make wedding dresses. The craftsmen spent almost a year of hard work on creating such a costume, because there were no sewing machines, everything was sewn by hand.
Serpanok is a fabric that was used exclusively by women, who wore clothes made of it on major religious or secular holidays, during childbirth, and at the beginning of the harvest. Almost all girls dreamed of having things made of serpanok fabric, but not everyone could afford them. Lesya Ukrainka in “Forest Song” crowned her Mavka with just such a thin serpanok.
The revival of the "Volyn haze"
At the beginning of the 20th century, the technique of making "Volyn haze" was lost. For more than a hundred years, no one could revive this unique art, and some even considered it a fiction, the same haze, a light fog. But in Volyn families, from generation to generation, stories were passed down about a miraculous fabric, transparent and weightless, made by hand from flax, about a unique art, which has no analogues in the world. And in old chests, amazing ancient products were kept, sewn from a canvas of a special structure and thickness.
Not so long ago, local history enthusiasts, after much trial and error, finally managed to revive the forgotten art. It was not an easy task, because first they had to search the same chests for samples of authentic kerchief, ask people who knew something about its production, and only then try to make the same fabric, no worse than the old one.
Flaxseed, which was a necessary raw material for ultrafine fiber, has not been grown in Ukraine since 1947; it was replaced in agriculture by long flax, which produced a larger amount of yarn, but its quality did not meet the requirements for creating a haze. Therefore, flax had to be purchased from other European countries and even from New Zealand.
The machines for making canvas were made according to original models from the early 20th century, the elements of which were collected from local residents.
And then they began to weave. From sample to sample, studying the fibers, their processing, the features of cleaning and stretching, and density, until they managed to weave the same veil that Volyn craftsmen were famous for in ancient times.
Clothing made from historical analogues of sable was also recreated, preserving all the features and nuances of historical clothing. To understand how difficult, unique and special the creation of sable is, it should be noted that the approximate price of a costume made from it reaches more than ten thousand hryvnias.
So, today, structures made of amazing transparent veil can be seen, first of all, in Ukrainian museums or at exhibitions in Lutsk, Rivne, Kyiv (Ivan Honchar Museum, "Art Arsenal", Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts). They are also shown abroad, because this treasure deserves to be popularized, and we have something to be proud of.
On the way to global recognition
"Volynskyi serpanok" is the heritage of the Ukrainian people, our historical and cultural heritage, our pride and wealth. It has an interesting origin, an ancient history and a wonderful revival.
Its uniqueness and special qualities deserve to be recognized worldwide. It certainly deserves a special place on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a man-made monument and a heritage of humanity.
Today, this ultra-thin canvas, along with other already well-known and recognized historical monuments of Ukraine, can become a sign of quality and a visiting card of our country for foreigners who want to know more about us.
If you value practicality above all else, then you should like comfortable embroidered T-shirts for women, or any men's T-shirt with embroidery .
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