This Is a Bird Easter Towel

This towel was inspired by a 1930s taistra woven in Bukovyna. Today, the original is held by the Chernivtsi Regional Museum of Local History.

A taistra is a traditional Hutsul shoulder bag. It was once as much an everyday item as our shopping bags are today. People carried their essentials in it and took it to the market, on journeys, or to church.

These bags were woven on the same looms as carpets, so they often featured intricate ornaments and symbolic motifs.

A distinctive feature of this pattern is its birds, rendered in the characteristic “pixelated” manner typical of Bukovyna and Podillia. This style has survived in folk weaving to this day.

Birds have a special place in Easter tradition. They return from vyrii and bring with them the end of the cold and the awakening of nature. Old ornaments, too, find their way back into our lives, appearing in new objects and contemporary stories.

Material: linen