Temporary exhibition
Maria Zientara-Malewska, a poet and writer born in Warmia. In her works, she described the Warmian folk culture which we illustrate at the exhibition using old photographs and historical objects gathered in our collections. We present the everyday like of inhabitants of the Warmian countryside – ways of obtaining food, structure and furnishings of the interiors of a house, outfits and processing of fibrous materials and, above all, what best shows the regional distinctiveness – folk art. The most characteristic of Warmia are the sculptures depicting Virgin Mary, Christ and patron saints placed in roadside shrines, of which there are over a thousand in our region. These sculptures, made by amateur artists, may offend with the lack of correct proportions or exceedingly bright colours. However, you must look at them through the eyes of prof. Roman Reinfuss – a distinguished expert in the field of folk art, who wrote: "Folk art is neither higher nor lower than the art of the elite class. It is just different". These words apply to the entire folk culture. It raises admiration how, faced with scarcity of material means and technical competence, such functional and often beautiful tools and items were created. The patron of the exhibition, Maria Zientara-Malewska, wrote: "Folk culture is a very broad concept. It encompasses timeless values". Maybe, in today's life full of haste, it is worth pausing for a moment and taking a look at that very different life of our ancestors.
