Ukrainian Luthiers — New Generation of Guitar Masters

The upcoming exhibition focuses on contemporary Ukrainian luthiers — masters who manufacture electric guitars by hand to individual orders from musicians. The Ukrainian school of guitar craftsmanship is developing rapidly after 2014: independent workshops in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv produce custom-shop instruments with standards competing with global brands Fender, Gibson, PRS. The centrepiece of the exposition is individually ordered instruments made from resonant wood species: Ukrainian ash, Carpathian maple, and local walnut. The exhibition shows the process of making an electric guitar from wood selection to final sound tuning — video chronicles, body sketches, devices for manual neck shaping, experimental Ukrainian-made pickups. A separate section is interviews with luthiers in which masters speak about their craft as a form of cultural identity. The exposition emphasises: the return of Ukrainian masters to guitar craftsmanship is not only an economic niche but also an act of cultural sovereignty, restoring the material aspect of Ukrainian rock music that throughout the Soviet period remained dependent on foreign production.