Memory in the Material: Victoria Yakusha on the Power of Design as Cultural Narrative

Design as a Cultural Statement

Moderated by Anna Fixsen, editor at Wallpaper* magazine, the panel centered on design as more than surface or style. Instead, the evening looked at how materials can serve as memory receptacles, how design can pay tribute to heritage, and how craft can tell tales that words can't always.

One of the key references during the conversation was her acclaimed Drevo collection, which is named after the Tree of Life, one of the most enduring symbols in Ukrainian folklore, it was one of the main points of reference during the discussion. The relationship between earth and sky, past and future, and human and divine is what the Tree of Life symbolizes more than just a motif.

These sacred symbols, which were positioned above windows, next to ovens, or close to doorways, formerly covered clay walls in Ukrainian homes. They were depicted as symbols of continuity, love, and protection rather than as ornamentation. Birds carried the spirit, flowers represented vitality, but the tree was always at the center, its roots and branches spanning generations.

Yakusha turns these transient wall paintings into something enduring in Drevo. The original drawings, which were engraved onto stainless steel panels, came from ethnographic records of the Podillia region. Steel can endure the test of time, while the delicate clay that once supported them could not. The content is what changes, not the meaning. The stories are no longer in danger of being forgotten because they are protected, passed through, and preserved.