Tukoni – who are they?

They meet the birds coming back from Heavens, they wake the animals up after the winter sleep with a cup of flavorful tea, and they do love to travel. They are tukoni, friends of forest, its mysterious spirits whose world Oksana Bula, Lviv artist, explores in her postcards. There are tukoni who go from tribe to tribe and gather settlers’ stories in order to remember them all. There are tukoni who like to sit by the fire – for this they collect dead wood and, of course, never break the branches of living trees. There are tukoni who like music – for example, Wild Sand who came from the distant hot South. He brought a favorite instrument with him – the didgeridoo, and his song tells of the ocean, the red sand, and the giant sea shells. There are space-faring tukoni, such as the cornflower wolf Orion. When the fields blossom, Orion the Wolf admires their deep blue color. He even changes his color with the season, because the cornflower’s color is his favorite in the summer... As Oksana Bula told The  Day, her future plans include a calendar with illustrations of tukoni and graphic novel about them, the material for which she has been collecting for some time. At the moment the artist is preparing the art for the translation of Andreas Steinhoefel’s The Center of The World for “The Old Lion Publishing House,” as well as for another children’s (or maybe not quite children’s) book, the details for which the publishers wish to keep secret. We talked with Oksana about the other mysteries – how the tukoni live, what do they love, and how close they are to our world.

How were the tukoni characters born? Are they alive for you, are they more than just the images?

“It is difficult to say how these characters were born. I have been painting as long as I can remember. As a child and a teenager I wanted to be a writer. Certainly, they are alive and real for me. I like their world. It’s nice that they allow me to pry into what’s happening there.”

The word, tukoni, where did it come from?

“The word itself is from a book about the mythology of Australian Aborigines. One of the legends mentioned forest creatures whose dance made the tree grow. It seemed to me that this was how my characters could be called, as they are a kind of forest spirits too. There are many different tukoni, but all of them are associated with plants; there are tukoni of certain trees, who live by them and help them grow and blossom. Tukoni see off the birds flying away to Heavens and meet them when they go back, they take care of the animals that sleep in the winter, as well as of those who do not sleep. They make a lot of useful things but do not forget to have their fun.”

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT WOLVES? THIS ONE IS A PHILOSOPHER. HE LIKES TO LIE DOWN AMONG WILD FLOWERS AND REFLECT ON THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE

How do unfamiliar people perceive tukoni? Where do these creatures instill more interest – in Ukraine or abroad?

“People regard them differently – someone sees a nice picture, someone sees nothing, and someone else is immediately fascinated with the story behind all this without any explanation or signatures. I met a great deal of good people thanks to tukoni – albeit strangers, they were very familiar. As for the interest, I don’t think the country matters. Tukoni are interesting everywhere, because there are people everywhere, as if we all come from a single forest.”

And why forest in particular? By the way, are your characters somehow related to The Forest Song by Lesia Ukrainka?

“I love forests, although I don’t go there as often as I would like. Regarding tukoni’s connection with The Forest Song... I cannot confirm this, they are from another world. But I personally like The Forest Song very much, for its mood, story, and atmosphere. I have a dream to draw the illustrations for this book, there even were such attempts in school.”

WHEN SPRING COMES, THE FIRST ONE TO MEET THE BIRDS IS A GUEST FROM THE FOREST ON THE HILL, ITS MYSTERIOUS SPIRIT. IT WELCOMES THE HOOPOE, THE NIGHTINGALE, THE CUCKOO, AND MANY OTHER BIRDS

Do you endorse ecological trends? How do you see the future of society, in particular of the local communities – to make it in harmony with the nature?

“Eco-trends are undoubtedly a marvelous thing. We must remind ourselves that nature is important, and that people are part of it. Perhaps, someone has forgotten this fact?”

What was the purpose of your postcard project? How important is it to take care of tukoni in one’s heart today? Are tukoni present in everyone?

“The purpose was to do what I want; to draw something I want. It had been several times I was suggested to make something like a ‘Happy Valentine’ series with tukoni. But I do not see the link between forest inhabitants and the people’s holidays, so there will be no such series.

“I am not sure whether tukoni are present in each of us. One can search. They surely are present in their forest.”