Uelen Bone Carving

Uelen sits on a spit at the far eastern end of the Russian mainland, facing the Bering Strait with Alaska visible on clear days, and it is a Chukchi and Yupik village of a few hundred people with a bone carving workshop that has operated since 1931. Two techniques are practised: sculpture in walrus tusk and bone - bears, walruses, hunting groups, figures - and engraving, in which a whole polished tusk is incised with fine scenes of hunting, herding and village life, coloured, and read along its length like a narrative. The engraving style developed in the twentieth century out of older marks on hunting gear. Material comes from walrus taken under subsistence quotas, which is what makes the craft legal and also what limits it; export of ivory is heavily restricted and buying it can be a serious problem at a border. Visiting means permits, a helicopter and a great deal of patience with weather.

What you actually see

• The engraved tusks - whole polished tusks incised with narrative hunting scenes.
• The carved figures - bears, walruses and hunting groups in ivory and bone.
• The 1931 workshop - a working studio in a village of a few hundred people.
• The strait - the Bering Strait from the spit, with Alaska visible on clear days.

When to go

July to September. Two hours in the workshop; getting there dominates the trip.

Honest expectations

Chukotka is a border zone and permits take weeks to arrange; foreign visitors face additional rules. Helicopters run to no fixed schedule and weather strands people for days. Export of walrus ivory is restricted in Russia and prohibited in many destination countries, so buying may not be lawful to take home - check before, not after.

Nearby

Cape Dezhnev, the easternmost point of the mainland, is close along the coast.