Oleg Vladimirovich Chumak is a professional book artist and designer of posters. He was born in 1950 in Ukraine. He attended the Ivan Fyodorov Polygraphic Institute in Lviv. After graduation, in 1973, he was invited to work in Karelia. The artist has a keen interest in many different forms of art, including book design, illustration, industrial designs, poster art, and easel painting.
Oleg Chumak is a member of the Russian Union of Artists and has exhibited his works extensively both in Russia and internationally. Chumak’s approach to illustration involves a thorough study of historical materials related to the subject matter as well as the places where the individuals featured in the books lived and worked.
The museum houses a portrait of Elias Lönnrot that was created by Oleg Chumak. Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish researcher, poet, and scientist. He compiled the epic poem “Kalevala” from ancient folk runes (also known as rune songs or runic songs). From 1828, he made 11 trips to Eastern Finland and the area of present-day Karelia. During these trips, he met with numerous talented rune singers and recorded hundreds of ancient poems, incantations, and songs from them, which he later edited.
Elias Lönnrot was not merely a collector of folk epics; he was the author of a literary work. He researched and compiled 65,000 lines of folk poetry that he had recorded, supplementing them with material from other collectors to create a coherent narrative. It is established that a third of the verses in the book repeat ancient rune songs word by word, with half of the poems edited by Lönnrot, and the rest either compiled from available lines or composed by the author himself. Realizing that the simple act of mechanically combining folk songs and stories would not suffice, Lönnrot began to mimic the style of folk poetry. Having a thorough understanding of the characteristics of folk poetry and making use of various pre-existing lines, such as clichés and formulas developed through centuries of folk tradition, Lönnrot came up with narratives (events and conflicts) that were not present in folk poetry before.
In 1849, the book “Kalevala” was published in Finland in the Finnish language, consisting of 50 runes and approximately 23,000 lines of poetry. The title “Kalevala”, given to the work by Lönnrot, refers to the epic name of the land where the protagonists live and interact.
This epic poem has had a significant impact on the evolution of the Karelian and Finnish languages, literature, cultural heritage, and the national identity of these two peoples. The profound and timeless themes, motifs, and images of “Kalevala” serve as an inspiration for many.
