Ruda Studio

Odesa-based Ruda Studio revives the lost art of straw marquetry, an ancient and painstaking form of wood marquetry, to create home-design pieces that radiate the glamour of the Art Deco epoch. In Ukrainian culture, straw is cherished and revered, representing ideals like fertility, nature and community across rituals and folklore. Creating with straw is an age-old tradition, and handicrafts have become powerful symbols of cultural identity and resistance in times of hardship. Each striking piece from Ruda Studio begins with straw carefully gathered and sorted by Orest, an octogenarian grandfather in Western Ukraine. In the workshop, the straw is flattened, dyed and inlaid by hand, a labour of love that results in no two pieces exactly the same.