The article describes some of the experiences of Ukrainian futurist Mykhail Semenko and Russian ego-futurist Basilisk Gnedov in the fi eld of visual poetry and their connection with folklore motifs. For a more holistic image of this problem, the text briefl y outlines Semenkov’s concept of “poesomalarstvo”, connected with the plastic appearance of the poetic text, as well as the general nature of linguistic and visual poetry experiments in Gnedov’s early works. There are also related aspects of the artistic practice of both poets, whose work to a certain extent had common origins. Folk roots in the poetry of both futurists are represented on the material of analysis of two early poems, which are an example of visual poetry.

The article describes some of the experiences of Ukrainian futurist Mykhail Semenko and Russian ego-futurist Basilisk Gnedov in the fi eld of visual poetry and their connection with folklore motifs. For a more holistic image of this problem, the text briefl y outlines Semenkov’s concept of “poesomalarstvo”, connected with the plastic appearance of the poetic text, as well as the general nature of linguistic and visual poetry experiments in Gnedov’s early works. There are also related aspects of the artistic practice of both poets, whose work to a certain extent had common origins. Folk roots in the poetry of both futurists are represented on the material of analysis of two early poems, which are an example of visual poetry.