Olga Oleksenko, founder of the Strong & Precious art foundation, discusses her native country’s rich ornamental traditions and vibrant contemporary scene.

 Welcome to this new episode of The Jewelry Connoisseur Podcast. I'm your host, Sonia Esther Soltani, Editor-in-Chief of Rapaport. Strong and precious promotes jewelry from Ukraine. It came after the invasion of Russia two years ago. Today we're going to go on a journey through the history of Ukrainian jewelry our guest is Olga Oleksenko. Olga is the founder of Strong and Precious, Olga tells us about the designers, why they are distinctively Ukrainian, what's meaningful about their jewelry, but she also takes us back on a trip back to where Ukrainian jewelry started. It's a fascinating conversation links the past to the present, and I hope you enjoy it.

So welcome on this podcast, Olga we're going to discuss Strong & Precious, but we're first going to go back to the beginning of the history of Ukrainian jewelry.

Hi Sonia. It's real pleasure to be here with you today and thank you for having me.

So when does Ukrainian jewelry start and what are typical materials that you'd like to share with us? Typical techniques and part of the history of the national jewelry.

Thank you Sonia, for the question. We, Ukrainians are very ancient nation and the art of jewelry in Ukraine spans back to the ancient times, tracing its roots to the New Stone Age or even earlier. As you can see, it's a long way of evolution of the national style, and it developed under the influences of the Trypillian and Scythian cultures throughout the BC era, so it's very ancient cultures. And it evolves further during the medieval state of Kyiv Rus. in the 16th 17th centuries, jewelry craftsmanship developed throughout Ukraine, but especially in two jewelry centers, Lviv and Kyiv. The jewelers of these cities formed a national school employing techniques like casting, forging, engraving. Also that time the artistry of enamels developed, showing a rich color palette of complex techniques. City expansions and church constructions surged during these times. increased demand of religious items. and of course, the spirit of Ukrainian Baroque heavily influenced the creation of sophisticated jewelry. Of course, you heard about European Western Baroque, but The Ukrainian Baroque wasn't as lush as the Western European. It has calmer ornaments and somewhat simplified forms, inspired by local flora. All the traditional jewelries were adorned with intricate ornaments, floral designs, birds, and trees, and each carrying unique meanings for the wearer. I think it would be interesting for the listeners, to know something about, types of, traditional Ukrainian jewelry. Firstly there is namysto. It's a necklace, predominantly made of beads, pearls, corals. Often, in shades of red and our ancestors believe that, the namisto had protective qualities against evil forces and the materials it was made of defined the woman's society status. Another very famous piece is lunnitsa. It's an amulet jewelry resembling a new moon. Women trusted these amulets to shield them from negativity and to attract prosperity. Of course, we have the famous hryvnia. is the name of our national currency, and, before it was a necklace crafted from gold or silver, . The warriors in, 10th and 11th centuries received a neck hryvnia as a reward. But during 12th and 14th centuries, the necklace hryvnia gradually turned into an exclusively female decoration. Also, there is the dukachi necklace, and it's the necklace featuring coins. And women creatively use chains or beads to ornament these coins and creating more sophisticated look.

That's a lovely overview of, the most iconic creations. And actually moving a bit closer to us. I think most people who love jewelry would've heard of Joseph Marshak, the Cartier of Kyiv and I think, you know, that was very difficult actually for the French Maison to go to Ukraine because he was so, so important. And the people loved his jewelry so much. So they couldn't compete with him. So can you tell us a bit more about him that people might have heard of, but maybe don't know his full story?

Yeah, Joseph Marshak was often called Kyiv Cartier and you're absolutely right, Cartier and Fabergé, they tried to open their boutiques in Kyiv, in pre revolutionary times, but they can't compete, to Joseph Marshak. the most, well-known Ukrainian jeweler from the past. He lived and work in Kyiv in the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. The work of our project and our work ethic is inspired by his example. He's one of the few that has a lasting legacy in jewelry. Luckily, some of his archives were kept by his family. who fled the revolution and continued his legacy first in France and later in the United States. He was an incredibly talented jeweler, a true visionary working in Kyiv. He came to Kyiv to study jewelry craftsmanship and began his career as a chain maker. Later, the motifs of the chains became the part of his original style, even in high jewelry. He was talented and successful and continued to develop and increase his business. At the top of his career, he had 92 buildings in Kyiv. Can you imagine? So, it wasn't just boutiques, it was training centers. It was workshops. He was more than just successful jeweler brand. He was a visionary and held many progressive values. That is why he is our expert inspiration. He opened training centers for his employees to constantly improve their skills and enhance the quality of the pieces they produced. Another curious aspect is that he was the first to work with many women artisans who were paid equally to men. That is why he can be called one of the first feminists, not only in Ukraine, but in the world also. Overall, he represented Ukraine on the international scene. Exhibitions in Germany, Chicago, Antwerp, where he was rewarded with diplomas and medals, and he created the competition with the international brands there. For these reasons, he is an inspiration to my work at the Strong & Precious. We also aim to represent Ukraine on the international scene, and we want our designers to be appreciated globally. We are also planning to put greater focus on educating our jewelers, to help them to develop and advance in their craft further.

So you've mentioned Strong & Precious, which is how we got to know you more and how we got to discover also designers, first at GemGenève few years ago, then in New York, you've been showing at the New York Jewelry Week, . Can you tell us about, the designers involved in Strong & Precious and how they're carrying on this beautiful heritage of Ukrainian jewelry, bringing it to the 21st century, but how are they keeping it something very distinctly Ukrainian in their very varied creation? Each design of Strong & Precious is very, very unique and standalone, but how do they keep this in the loop of the heritage of your country?

Thank you, Sonia, for the question again, Strong & Precious is a project about a place, a land, and a culture. and this is, our main inspiration. It's a project that was born from a tragedy, the war in Ukraine, which didn't stop. And it is our response to the war, not an, armed response, but an artistic response. And we want to show globally how creative, harmonious, and artistic our nation is. How rich our cultural heritage despite the challenges of war. for our project, we intentionally choose the designers with the distinctive individuality to display the diversity within our nation and common culture. All designers, each of them has its own style and uses its own techniques and materials. However, it is not the technique and materials which makes them typically Ukrainian. I, think that the distinctive feature of our designers is having meaning in every piece. And it is the influence of our heritage. In Ukraine, we have traditional patterns that are full of meanings. Each symbol means something. They also differ from region to region. We could find it in our traditional design clothing, but it's also in our jewelry. And the creations of contemporary Ukrainian jewelers are imbued by this vivid symbolism, yet they look very contemporary. I'll take examples from the designers that we represented. For example, Oberig Jewelry they use motifs of Ukrainian embroidery, recreating these patterns in precious stones. Irina Karpova created the collection celebrating our tradition of decorating Easter eggs with the patterns. You know that we have this tradition to decorate Easter eggs, unlike other nations. And she recreates these patterns in jewelry and in enamel. So, also I see designers being inspired by Ukrainian traditional ceramics. The brand Gunia created a necklace celebrating the ancient Trypillian culture. Traditional Ukrainian ceramics also became an inspiration for the Kolosinnia collection by Yuval Studio that we presented at GemGenève last November. But our designers work not only with the traditional patterns. For New York City Jewelry Week, also the last November, we gave everybody a topic, the modern symbols of Ukraine. And it is very interesting to see how designers improvised on this topic. Of course, it's very difficult to, describe jewelry without showing them, but, I invite, everybody to go to our website and to look at, these, unique pieces. One of them I'm wearing, it's the incredible brooch L inks, which is made by Inesa Kovalova, a very young and very talented Ukrainian designer. Inesa has got a master's degree in architecture and if I had not mentioned it, you would have guessed it already. Pure geometry and sobriety of her creations speak for themselves. This brooch Links is about the ties that cannot be broken. It's about the connection of Inesa with her native Donbas, it's an industrial region of Ukraine. And this stone, heliodor, in the heart of the creation suggests the unbreakable bond between the man crafted and the natural, between Eastern and Western Ukraine. So, you see that it's very symbolic, but in very modern, contemporary way. Also we had a very beautiful necklace by Nomis, it's the other one. They created Freedom, a black pearl necklace. Here they talk about the intellectual capacity of our nation. The fact is that the pearls in this necklace are set not in a chaotic order. The word Freedom is encrypted in binary code here. And as you know, binary code is the language of programmers. Ukrainian programmers are well known all over the world and are hired by biggest global IT companies . She just explained the intellectual capacity of our nation. So you can see how the contemporary brands make an interpretation of Ukrainian symbols in their own very individual way.

This is very moving, a lot of these symbols and very powerful as well. So thanks Olga for highlighting, some of these pieces.

And I also want to add that it became clear now that for Ukrainians, what they wear and how they adorn themselves is definitely not only about decoration, but about communicating profound messages and this is the distinguishing feature of Ukrainian jewelry.

What about the actual Ukrainian jewelry market right now in Ukraine? Since the Russian invasion, things have changed. A lot of the people, part of Strong & Precious don't live in Ukraine anymore, are based all over the, world in the US, in Europe. What about the craftspeople. ? What's happening to them right now?

We hope for that and, you know, we are obviously hoping for, the end of this war that is coming to almost two years by the time this podcast will be released. So, on a more positive note, you know, at least Strong & Precious really brought to the international scene the power of Ukrainian designers. So what do you see as the next stage Olga? In peace, hopefully very soon.

Let's hope, for peace, of course, and my primary aspiration for our project is to see our exhibitions presented at the most important art venues internationally. Maybe it sounds very ambitious, but I'd love for Ukrainian jewelers to be showcased in Metropolitan Museum in New York, in Boston Fine Art Museum, or in Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It sounds like, you know, dream, but, I really, make plans about that. I would be happy if the prestigious venues could support us and provide us with these spaces and with help to make in such exhibition. It's a part of my idea that jewelry is an art, not a craft and it's museum worthy. In Ukraine, we have so many creative ideas and I'd love to see all of them to be realized. I also dream of curating a big exhibition dedicated to Marshak, who really deserves big venues also. But of course, I want to integrate our contemporary jewelers into such an exhibition. Even if my aspiration for Strong & Precious are not directly tied to commerce, I'd love to see the creations of our talented Ukrainian designers on displays at the most prestigious department stores and galleries around the world. And if you want to support our designers by now, you can, by buying their pieces on their websites directly and one of our brands, Nomis, I already told about them, they are represented at Dover Street Market in New York, Los Angeles, and London, so you can find them there and support them by buying their pieces. And I sincerely hope that each brand participating in our project achieves significant commercial success. And our foundation will help them to achieve more popularity worldwide.

That's fantastic. I wish you all the best of luck. Olga, I want to say I've seen the jewelry firsthand. I've been lucky to see it in Geneva. It's extremely crafted. It's innovative and really, really extraordinary designers. So I wish Strong & Precious designers all the best. And I'm so grateful to you, Olga, to take the time to tell us about your art foundation and about the history of Ukrainian jewelry today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sonia. you know, I have a so good energy talking to you and, actually our conversation has inspired me. Thank you very much. Thank you, Sonia for having me.

 Thank you for listening to the Jewelry Connoisseur podcast by Rappaport Jewelry Pro. This episode was hosted by Sonia Ester Soltani and produced and edited by Vanina You can find all our episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and read more about diamonds, colored gemstones, high jewelry designers, estate jewelry, and the latest jewelry trends on Rappaport. com slash Jewelry Connoisseur. Please subscribe to get all our new episodes and if you liked this one, leave us a review.