Karelian people have been known for their handicraft skills and they have distinctive styles in their embroidery when compared to other Finnish areas. Embroidery was an important skill for women, which they learned to do from a young age. Their value as marriage material was, in a way, measured in the quality of textiles that went with them to the family of the husband they would marry.
Unfortunately there is a lack of documentation on the history and meanings of the embroidery, and only a limited amount of physical pieces have survived. One reason is that there was a habit of not speaking about the past because of the trauma caused by the winter and continuation wars of 1939-1944, but also Finland had to hand over historical artefacts and documentation when they lost. This is also why the images at the bottom of the page are mostly of embroidery found from the Russian area of Karelia.
Some meaning, fortunately, is known and is currently researched. For example, when there is a female figure, the position of the arms tell the role: when hands are on their hips, the figure is a mother, but when they are up, it is a young woman. The horse was common in wedding related textiles to symbolise the journey, and the bird is a connector, for instance of the land and sky, or past and future. Larger embroideries included three parts stacked on top of each other, representing the world we live in, the sky and underworld.
Embroidery was common in a long piece of cloth called ‘käspaikka’. One use of it could be compared to a normal hand towel next to a wash basin. Another use was more ceremonial and was used as a sacred textile in orthodox religion to mark, for example in weddings.
Zoja means life, Opri means happiness and Faina means bright and radiant.
Karelia was a crossroads of cultures, yet they managed to adopt and make it their own. For example, all the three names are of Greek origin, but have been altered by Karelia.
Even though we are accustomed to seeing the general white and red, especially in Southern Karelia (Karjalan Kannas) embroidery was at times embellished with green, yellow or blue. It still held the simple, serene and dignified look and feel.
While there were no rules for how the figures are to be made and each person was allowed to use their own creativity and skills, there were some regional differences in the designs and how they were named.
