From Russia with love
How Dmitry Turcan expresses gratitude to the African value adders through a Russian kokoshnik.
Back to storiesN INSPIRATOR TO MANY - Dmitry Turcan is one of the most recognizable Russian-speaking floral artists. He is an entrepreneur and blogger - with an audience of more than 420 thousand people on Instagram, whom he inspires daily to take up floristry. Founder of the online floristry school Turcan International Flower School and the Turcan Flower Bureau. His students live and work in 50 countries around the world, and Dmitry himself annually participates in the largest events of the floral world.
A FAMILY HEIRLOOM
A kokoshnik (in Russian: коко́шник) is a Russian piece of headwear for women and has been around since at least the 17th century. These family heirlooms were passed down from generation to generation, and were often lined with costly fabric, pearls and beads, making them very expensive. They were carefully looked after and only worn a few times a year on important occasions. To this day, it is an iconic element of Russian culture. There are many different forms and almost every region of Russia had its own local style.
TELLING A STORY
Dmitry: ‘When I was asked to create the cover for the new issue of THE STORY OF MARGINPAR, I decided to not only come up with an interesting floral decor, but to tell a story with it as well. I chose two models of different nationalities, who have become icons of employees in flower farms around the world. When I initially proposed the idea of taking a photo of a dark-complexioned model in a styled kokoshnik, I was told this was a bad idea. There are still very many interracial issues in the world, and you may be misunderstood.
A SIGN OF GRATITUDE
But my story is not about nationalities, it is about flowers and the people who care for them. Model Molly has become the embodiment of the value adders from East Africa, where Marginpar cultivates its beautiful flowers, and a crown in the shape of a kokoshnik is a sign of gratitude for their work. It also serves as a reminder to us all, what a long way flowers travel before they reach the hands of the buyer.
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
We often forget how many people are involved in the creation of a bouquet. I do not know the names of the people who grow, collect and pack flowers, who bring them across the world to another continent, where I make a composition of them to send them on to my customers. The assembly of a bouquet is a fairly quick process, but this is only the tip of the iceberg, the basis often remains hidden from the eyes of the customer. And by telling customers more about the huge amount of work behind the creation of a bouquet, they will better understand its price and value. After all, if I were to grow flowers myself, with all the challenges that entails, I would undoubtedly value them many times more highly.
A DELICATE INTERWEAVING OF FLOWERS
But my story is not about the heaviness of the work, it is mainly about gratitude. That is why I have made my work easy and at the same time ceremonial. These summer flowers could not have been better suited for this task. The transparency of the composition and the delicate interweaving of flowers without visible attachment points, as well as the inclusions of bright yellow-orange flowers helped to make the image as
airy as possible. Obviously, everyone can see something different in my work. I will be happy if these pictures give someone thoughts and insights.’
