The project includes the implementation of a large-format exhibition in public space, the aim of which is to draw attention to disappearing elements of cultural heritage. The use of wooden elements of folk architecture obtained during the demolition and modernization of old houses in combination with artistic ceramic objects with folk themes and threads are a proposal to give a new format to traditional and disappearing traditions of folk architecture and art. The exhibition, as a supplement to the 48th International Folk Art Fair in Krakow, is addressed to a huge number of residents and visitors to the city.
The aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to traditional and disappearing elements of folk culture, lost forms of construction as part of modernization, disappearing artistic crafts. At the same time, the exhibition becomes a proposal to “save” the material and give it an artistic dimension. Popularization of folk art in combination with ecological aspects such as reuse of material is an important factor of the proposed artistic intention. The project is of a character popularizing folk art, educational for the general public, promotional for artistic crafts and cultural heritage of the region. It is a proposal to preserve and protect cultural heritage in artistic form.
Main Square in Kraków
2nd – 18th of August 2024
The project was implemented with the financial support of the Małopolska Voivodeship, the City of Krakow and the Totalizator Sportowy Foundation.
Large-format objects, composition built from wooden structural elements obtained from the demolition of old buildings are the foundation for two-dimensional ceramic works on folk themes and created especially for the exhibition as part of the “New Life of Old Houses” project. Fragments of walls connected in a traditional way and creating a sculptural composition erected from architectural structures will be recreated on the Kraków Market Square. The Fundation has the opportunity to obtain material in the form of wooden logs that are the preserved structure of the Marcin Peterseim Machine and Foundry Factory in Kraków, demolished in 2001. The sculptor Mirosław Baca is responsible for the sculptural aspect of the composition. The artist is inspired by the works in public space of artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra, Lee Ufan, and in particular by the works of Ursula von Rydingsvard, whose works were presented in Orońsko, Warsaw and Kraków. Ceramic works made by Anna Weronika Zięciak with folk themes and motifs are mounted on wooden structures. Ceramic panels on tiles coated with sublimation printing, diverse in terms of form and technique, were created specifically for the project. The artist has been working in this technique for years and the proposed project is a large-scale development of her concept of “saving old houses” and a manifesto for saving folk tradition as a link in the national heritage. The exhibition as a component and promotion of folk art fairs set in the heart of a city inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List is a nod to tradition, reflection on the past, a call to defense. The modern convention of interference in the city space combined with folk art, recirculation of material as a lever of artistic inspiration, modern manners combined with folklore are a postulate for its prevention through transformation, an incentive for an intergenerational and inter-environmental repository for both tangible and intangible heritage. Partners: The artistic objects that the artist has been creating for years are ceramic pictures with folk motifs composed with wooden or metal architectural elements obtained during the demolition of old, mostly Kraków houses. Using material intended for disposal as a component of works of folk decorative art is a gesture of saving it by giving it a new function of artistic value. The configuration of traditional folk art with contemporary ecological thinking and the creative use of pickets damaged by the passage of time is literally “New Life of Old Houses”.
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