Man of Birch

Vasily Chikov is what you might call a true Russian muzhik.

Once he showed up at a festival

in Moscow in clothing he had woven himself. Not so unusual,

you say? Well, it was, because

everything–from the lapti on his feet, to the hat on his head–was made entirely of beresta

(birch bark).

vasily chikov is a true original. At his home in Yaroslavl you’ll find crafts worthy of a museum, including a working samovar made of linden wood. And, after you boil your tea in this marvelous creation, you serve it in tea mugs made of, you guessed it, birch bark.

But the most extraordinary find in Chikov’s home are the original musical instruments which he invented. Vasily Alexandrovich can make any object “sing”—be it a simple wooden spoon or an anvil. He actually got the idea for the latter when, as a child, he was walking past the village blacksmith’s. The rhythmic sound of the hammers hitting the anvil—Bu-um! ... Toc-toc!—sang out a beautiful melody, Chikov recalls, one you could not help dancing to. So Chikov made a small anvil for making music rather than iron implements. He taps it with small hammers and it makes a great accompaniment to an accordion and a balalaika.

To Chikov, a birch stump became first a simple drum and then, after he affixed some strings to it, a contrabass. And then there is his whip.  If you have never heard a whip “sing,” you are in for a treat when Chikov revs up this unlikely instrument, while belting out a chastushka:

Ç ÔÓΠ ËÚÓ ‡ÒÔÛÒÚËÎÓÒ¸, Ì ÔÓ‡ ÎË Â„Ó  ‡Ú¸,

íÂÚËÈ „Ó‰ ıÓ Û fl Í ÏËÎÓÈ, Ì ÏÓ„Û ÔÓˆÂÎÓ‚‡Ú¸

Wheat is blossoming  in the field, it’s time to reap harvest,

I have been dating my beloved 3 years, and still can’t kiss her

Then a birch horn echoes the whip and Chikov intones:

á‡Ë„‡ÎÓ ÍÌÛÚӂˢÂ, Á‡ÎË‚‡ÂÚÒfl „‡ÏÓ̸,

ÔÓβ·ËÎ Ó‰ÌÛ ‰Â‚˜ÓÌÍÛ, a ÒÓÒ‰ Ò͇Á‡Î — Ì ÚÓ̸

The whip sings, the accordion harmonizes,

I fell in love with a girl, but the neighbor said don’t touch her

Chikov’s collection also includes instruments which one would be hard pressed to name. He took six colorful spoons,  tied them together and now can play them like either a xylophone or a flute. His fans dubbed the multi-purpose  instrument a “combine.”

ü ̇ ÎÓ ͇ı ‚‡Ï Ë„‡˛, Ë ‰‡˛ Ú‡ÍÓÈ ÒÓ‚ÂÚ

¯¸Ú ͂‡¯ÂÌÛ Í‡ÔÛÒÚÛ — ÔÓ Ë‚ÂÚ ‰Ó ÒÚ‡ ÎÂÚ

I play spoons for you and give you some advice:

Eat sour cabbage and you’ll live to be 100

Wherever Chikov performs, he steals the show, whether it be at Yaroslavl’s City Day, on the Nekrasov Day in Karabikha village, or in Uglich or Moscow. Awarded with many diplomas and prizes from different festivals, Chikov also seeks to pass on his craft, and teaches it to children in kindergartens and schools.

Interestingly, these musical pursuits are Chikov’s second profession. After working most of his entire adult life as a mechanic in a train station, he retired and began crafting his unusual musical instruments full time.

Vasily Alexandrovich was born in the village of Podolskoye, in Yaroslavl region’s Bolsheselsky district. He spent his childhood in the village of Maryino, where villagers bought only  kerosene, salt and matches from the “outside world,” making anything else they needed, from iron pots to linens. Maryino residents also wove birch bark shoes—lapti, which is how Chikov originally picked up the skill. After mastering the weaving of lapti and baskets, he went on to make his first musical horn out of birch bark at the age of nine. Later, he crafted his first balalaika. With time, his crafts became more and more sophisticated—he even invented a special, ecologically-safe glue, based on birch sap and wax.

Another invention of the “birch-bark muzhik,” as Chikov is known in Yaroslavl region, is his berestyanaya kniga, a now-famous book made from birch bark (see photo, page 49). Chikov conceived of the book as an autobiography containing all the major milestones in his life, for example his daughter Lyudmila’s defense of her doctoral dissertation on February 14, 1995.

Other pages contain feedback on Chikov’s work, including comments in Russian, German, French and English. One American visitor wrote: “A wonderful craft—it was a great privilege to see these works,” while another wrote, “Congratulations to an inventive and versatile man!”

Indeed.    RL