New Life of Old Houses
2nd Edition
The project is the second edition of a large-scale exhibition, taking place in 2024. It includes a large-scale artistic installation in the form of an outdoor exhibition, the aim of which is to draw attention to vanishing elements of cultural heritage. The use of wooden elements of folk architecture recovered from the demolition and renovation of old houses, combined with artistic ceramic objects with folk themes and motifs, is a proposal to redefine traditional and vanishing traditions of folk architecture and art, and above all, to document and archive material and intangible manifestations of traditional cultures, creating methods and tools for their preservation and dissemination.
The 2nd edition of the exhibition involves the construction of new and replacement of ceramic panels.
The exhibition, a supplement to the 49th International Folk Art Fair held at the Main Market Square in Kraków, is aimed at a large number of residents and visitors to the city. It promotes artistic craftsmanship and the cultural heritage of the region. It draws attention to vanishing traditions and proposes the perpetuation and preservation of tradition in artistic form.
The exhibition aims to popularize unique and vibrant elements of traditional cultures in the form of ceramics with folk art motifs, and to draw attention to traditional and vanishing elements, forms of construction lost as a result of modernization, and vanishing artistic crafts. At the same time, the exhibition becomes a proposal to “rescue” the material and give it an artistic dimension. The popularization of folk art, combined with ecological aspects such as material reuse, is an important factor in the proposed artistic project. This compelling artistic installation project combines artistic ceramics with architecture and folk art. It is a way to disseminate various manifestations of traditional cultures, artistic crafts, folk art, and knowledge about intangible heritage.
Kraków Main Square
8th – 24th of August 2025
Project co-financed by the City of Kraków
The International Folk Art Fair has been held annually in August on Kraków’s Main Market Square since the 1970s (with a break of several years). Created to showcase the immense richness and diversity of folk culture, both Polish and foreign, to a wider audience, it quickly gained incredible popularity among city residents and tourists alike. It has become the largest and most comprehensive presentation of Polish folk art and artistic handicrafts in Central and Eastern Europe, thus creating conditions for preserving traditional crafts and folk art, and promoting folklore in its broadest sense. At the same time, it offers an opportunity to promote Kraków and the entire Małopolska region as a region by creating an attractive format for the entire event, presenting folk artists, their works, artistic workshops, and folk groups on Kraków’s Main Market Square, surrounded by historical symbols and in the presence of a large crowd. Large-format objects and compositions constructed from wooden structural elements recovered from the demolition of old buildings are the foundation for two-dimensional ceramic works with folk themes, created specifically for the exhibition and as part of the “New Life of Old Houses” project. The second edition of the exhibition will utilize structures from 2024 as recreated wall fragments connected in a traditional manner, creating a sculptural composition constructed from architectural structures. The internationally acclaimed sculptor Mirosław Baca will be responsible for the sculptural aspect of the composition, guaranteeing the high artistic quality of the project. The artist is inspired by the public works of artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra, Lee Ufan, and in particular by the works of Ursula von Rydingsvard, whose works have been presented in Orońsko, Warsaw, and Kraków. Ceramic works by Anna Weronika Zięciak, with folk themes and motifs, will be permanently and accessible mounted on wooden structures. Formally and technically diverse, large-format ceramic panels (1m x 1m) will be created specifically for the second edition of the project. The artist has been working with this technique for years, and the proposed project is a large-scale extension of her concept of “saving old houses” and a manifesto for preserving folk tradition as a link to national heritage. The exhibition, as a component and promotion of a folk art fair set in the heart of a city inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is a tribute to tradition, a reflection on the past, and a call to defense. The modern convention of intervention in urban space combined with folk art, the recycling of material as a lever for artistic inspiration, and modern mannerism combined with folklore, are a postulate for its prevention through transformation, and a call for an intergenerational and intercommunity repository for both tangible and intangible heritage. Photo Gallery
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