There are people who value the Carpathians for their physical beauty – gentle rolling mountains covered with forests and alpine pastures, crisscrossed by mountain streams and rivers. There are people who are drawn to the Carpathians by their colorful inhabitants, the Hutsuls. There are surely people who understand that it is impossible to separate the two: Carpathians would not be the same without their inhabitants while the Hutsuls would not be Hutsuls if they did not live in the Carpathian Mountains.
 Chornohora |
 Hoverla |
 Petros |
 Pistynka |
I would go one step further and say that it is impossible to appreciate fully neither the Carpathians nor the Hutsuls without understanding Hutsul mentality, without a good glimpse into their inner world. It is impossible to convey the depth of the Hutsul psyche with all its hidden corners and secrets, be it in pictures, musical recordings or videos.
The Hutsuls can be compared to Australian aboriginies or American Indians, conquered – and almost decimated - by the civilization. The difference between the two is that Hutsuls adapted to civilization enough to survive it without giving up their ancient mentality, beliefs, customs, ways of doing things and habits. The result is that today, on the one hand, Hustuls are still children of nature they once were, appearing simple, nature-bound and open to the world; at the same time, they are extremely cautious and can be very cunning when it comes to dealing with outsiders.
 Hauling |
 Hay |
 Transport |
 Winter |
Hutsuls joke that when in 1492 Christopher Columbus was approaching the shores of the New World, Hutsul merchants were already returning home and greeted him with the traditional “Slava Isusu Khrystu” (Praise Jesus Christ). Indeed, Hutsuls are not afraid of risk and take advantage of commercial opportunities when they see them. In Soviet times Hutsuls were good at avoiding collective farms that were mandatory throughout the USSR while circumventing or even taking advantage of the shortages produced by the planned socialist economy.
Someone who spends some time in the Carpathians will surely notice that the Hutsuls are extremely polite people who treat visitors nicely; that they put value on old customs; that they value good times and won’t miss an opportunity to party; and that they look and sound very colorful when they put on their traditional clothes and pull out their musical instruments.
 Break |
 Musicians |
 Eagles |
 Carolers |
It takes much more time – and an effort to notice the invisible – to realize that all those exotic things make the Hutsuls special only because they still live them – as opposed to playing exotic natives for the tourists. Hutsuls celebrate grandiose weddings to show their neighbors that they are as good or better than everyone else in the village, and because by not doing so they lose face. They sing Christmas carols because that’s what one does during Christmas, not because someone wants to put on a performance. They still wear colorful traditional clothes because that’s what one does on special days, not because it draws paying tourists.
It does not take long, however, to notice that Hutsuls are keen to adopt new ways: when given a choice, Hutsuls will live in modern buildings with central heating and plumbing, not in wooden shacks, and drive European cars, not horses; they prefer to work for money, visit a real doctor, not a witch, and buy their cheese and yogurt in the store instead of making the stuff themselves.
 Icon |
 Horsemen |
 Fireplace |
 Tabivka |
At the same time, the Hutsul world seems to be stuck someplace between the 19 and 22 centuries, often materializing in truly strange situations:
- While milking his cow by hand in candlelight (electricity pole knocked down by a snowstorm), someone asked me to check prices for used digital TV receivers in Germany, reminding me that they are useless without remote controllers. To be honest, at that time all I cared to know about TV was that it comes via cable from a socket in the wall…
- While getting closer to the fire to warm up on a remote mountain slope where he has been hauling logs with his horse on a rainy October day, a young man complained about poor cell phone reception, preventing him from reloading his account…
- Parents of a sick young man, preparing to take him for eye surgery to the district city, complain about the neighbors who put a spell on their boy, causing his eye condition to deteriorate…
- Musicians convinced that to become a true virtuoso you have to make a deal with the “helper” (Hutsuls avoid saying the word devil); those who made a deal can put a spell on other musicians to prevent competition…
- A teacher with university degree asking her parents to chant the special water-cleansing formula over a sick child, convinced that the child suffers from a spell…
As we all know, globalization is not something we choose to have, it comes whether we want it or not. The Hutsul world is not immune to globalization, it is becoming homogenized while old customs, beliefs and way of life are slowly fading away. This process is happening as you read these words, and it is accelerating. I have no illusions about our abilities to change the world, neither do I claim that I grasped the magic of the Hustul world better than others. My only hope is that my collection of pictures, music and videos will help those who want to take a glimpse into that magic world and preserve some of it for those who can longer witness it…
 Prut |
 Mask |
 Barrels |
 Baskets |
 Parking |
 Staia |
 Tashka |
 Babka |
 Horses |
 Kosiv |
 Plowing |
 Hay |
 Bazar |
 Fishing |
 Vorynie |
 Church |
 Shepit |
 Old vs. new |
 Fall |
 Funeral |
 Old house |
 Jamming |
 Old and new |
 Evening |