For many remarkable figures in Finnish art, such as the composer Jan Sibelius, the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela and the architect Eliel Saarinen, the world of Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala" was a symbolic source from which they drew inspiration for conveying human feelings through other art media.

The epic consists of 50 runic songs based on folk epic songs, most of which were recorded in Karelia. Finnish linguist and doctor Elias Lönnrot was involved in the processing of the original folklore materials and linked the individual runes into a single narrative.

The artist Andrey Prakhov, who lived in Cis-Urals region for a long time, became interested in studying this extensive cultural layer. He explored a lot of materials on the topic, including the Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala". Andrey also studied the phenomenon of Perm animal style - one of the most mysterious cultural phenomena of Eurasia. As a result, Andrey Prakhov left the world with a contemporary interpretation of the images and plots of the “Kalevala” epic, an outstanding work of world culture.

Contemporary reconstruction and rethinking of the Finno-Ugric heritage by Andrey Prakhov became an artistic decoration of the poetic epic "Kalevala". On the basis of the “Kalevala” runes, one art field - literature, turns into another - paintings, and then to theatrical performance. This harmony of artistic expressions is made possible by:

• simplicity of the language style of the “Kalevala” epic

• brightness of images and high lyrical impulse

• deep sense of nature

It was these ideas that the artist used for his artworks, thereby turning our perception of the epic away from its classical visual images. His artistic view of the “Kalevala” is fundamentally different from what has ever been created before.

Andrey Prakhov openly stated that both “Kalevala” and Perm animal style are bright landmarks in the history and treasures of world culture heritage together with “Odyssey” and “Iliad”.

Andrey started studying the Karelian-Finnish epic “Kalevala” and Perm animal style in 2016, having created a large-scale project, the first stage of which is "Testimonies of Lost Times. The legacy of the Kamskaya Chud" was presented to the viewer in Kyiv in 2017 with the support of the Union of the Uralic People of Ukraine and the National Historical and Architectural Museum "Kyiv Fortress" as part of the project "The Finno-Ugric World: Myth or Reality" dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Finland's independence.

Earlier in 2017, Andrey presented his artworks on the theme of the Perm animal style at contemporary art festival "GogolFest 2017", Kyiv. In this project, the author conveyed the originality and richness of the Perm animal style by borrowing images from the original elements. An important task was in conveying the sensations received from the encounter with the magic of the animal style - its artistic rethinking. The artworks were based on the elements of Perm animal style and “Kalevala” epic, material from Perm Regional Library and Perm Museum of Local Lore.

KALEVALA project by Andrey Prakhov is a contemporary reconstruction of the plots of the Karelian-Finnish epic, its vivid interpretation, capable of increasing the interest and curiosity of the contemporary viewer due to bold compositional solutions, colours and ease of perception. The series consists of more than fifty artworks created in different techniques during the period from 2016 till 2020.

Below we present 44 artworks from KALEVALA series, acrylic, mixed media.