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Polish Folk Art For centuries since the dawn of feudalism, a traditional folk art has thrived in the villages and small towns of Poland. This art, intimately connected with the everyday life and local interests of the common people and enriched by creative individuals in each new generation, reflects the uniqueness of each of Poland's regions. Folk art includes not only such standard forms as painting, sculpture and wood engraving, but also decorative art, such as paper cut-outs, decorations made of straw, painted Easter eggs, and wedding and birthday cakes. Folk art also includes weaving, embroidery, pottery, wooden vessels and household utensils and metal products.
Paper cut-outs • Unknown kind of art in other parts of the world includes colourful paper cuts flowers or scenes taken from a daily life work in field, play, elements of wedding clothes and ceremony. It’s actually genuinely spontaneous creation of country people spiritual life. You can hand it up or stick on the wall or put it anywhere you wish.
Paper cuts are divided into three groups:- round - called “Gwiozdy” because of their shape of star, - rectangular - called “Kodry” - usually they present scenes of life,- vertical - called “Tasiemki” because of their shape of laces.
Embroidery Pillowcase. Multi-coloured embroidery on velvet. Flowers motives are hand or machine embroidered.
Dolls • Dolls are dressed up in richly adorned traditional dresses. Dress is made of characteristic coloured - home spun clothes and decorated with flowers embroidered on black velvet.
Krakow nativities • The Krakow Nativity is a unique form of nativity, called szopka in Polish, or szopki Krakowskie. Originated in the first half of the 19th century in Krakow by the bricklayers and construction workers idled by the severe Polish winters. They created fanciful nativities from cardboard, foil paper and beads showing the eternal story of Christ's birth, locate it within miniaturized elements of Krakow's architecture, landmarks, legends and folklore. The Krakow Nativities instead of locating the Holy Family in the manger, place it within Krakow's landmarks, The figures perform Christmas plays. Nowadays, Krakow Nativities are mostly made in several sizes, small nativities that can be placed under the Christmas tree, medium size, and larger nativities, some as tall as 10 feet. The bricklayers traditionally brought their nativities to Krakow's main square to share them with the city people and hopefully to sell. Bringing the Krakow Nativity to the main square became a tradition and they are always brought and presented next to the Adam Mickiewicz monument.
Amber jewelry • Amber, the gold of the Baltic sea, is actually tree sap that has fossilized for millions of years in the bottom of the Baltic sea For a while in the middle ages amber was more expensive then gold. For a long period, before deep water mining of amber began all the amber available were pieces that washed ashore. Beside having aesthetic value, amber is prized for it's healing abilities. Many amber pieces have small insects inside. Today amber pieces with air bubbles or insects inside are highly prized. Amber comes in many colors and shades from the best known honey color to darkish almost black version, green, yellow, lighter and darker shades of brown and even white. Often times a nugget of amber will have over a dozen of colors and shades.
Wooden Boxes • Wooden Boxes Wooden boxes, plain or richly decorated, are miniature samples of trunks that were traditionally part of the bride trousseau. The Polish hand carved wood box have been made in the Tatra mountains of Poland for over a millennium. These wooden keepsake boxes were presented in the past as exclusive gifts to royal families throughout Europe and used to keep treasured possessions. The wooden carved boxes are adorned with designs based on plants the natural world around us and a range of geometric shapes. Beloved by all for their earthiness, natural material, and colorfulness the Polish wooden boxes are being put to wide uses as varied as the imagination of the owner. They are often referred to as treasure boxes, jewelry boxes, or wooden gift boxes.
Pisanki Eggs • Eggs are exchanged among family members in Poland during the Easter celebration to signify friendship and love. Polish women wax and dye these eggs before the holiday, utilizing a craft known as Pisanki have become a popular traditional Polish craft practiced even outside of Poland.
