Bandura

To Hold History in the Body

The bandura is a Ukrainian folk instrument. It has a pear-shaped resonating body and a short neck, and modern concert models carry 55 to 65 strings. It has no frets; the open strings are plucked like a harp’s. Its clear, crystalline tone blends naturally with the human voice, and singing to one’s own accompaniment has always been the instrument’s essential form. Photographer Tomohiro Oshima documents Oksana Stepaniuk, a refugee from Ukraine, playing the bandura in Japan — and traces the instrument back to the murdered oral historians who once carried a nation’s memory in their bodies.