Maria-Teresa Chojnacka was born in 1931 in Warsaw. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1956) and earned a postgraduate in Ethnography Studies in the Nicolas Copernicus University in Toruń (1968). Maria-Teresa was the artistic director of Otwock Cepelia from 1963-67. She carried out research for the Institute of Industrial Design from 1964-68 and worked as a lecturer at the Volkshochschule Biberach, Riss, Germany from 1979-87. Maria-Teresa has participated in 37 solo exhibitions, several hundred group exhibitions and many competitions in Poland and abroad, including: the Biennial in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1969 and 1971; Toronto, Canada in 1974; Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan in 1976; Szombathely, Hungary in 1980 and 1982; Mexico City, Mexico in 1986 and 1988; and the International Triennial of Tapestry in Łódź, Poland. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including: Gold Medal at the Art Festival in Warsaw 1972; Second Prize at the Quadriennial in Erfurt in 1974; distinction at the International Cloth Competition in Biberach, Riss, Germany in 1977 for her large-format artistic cloth 140 m2; Silver Medal at the 5th International Triennial of Tapestry held by the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź in 1985; 1st Agnieszka Sienkiewicz Prize at the Creative Workshop in Kowary, Poland, in 1995; a lifetime achievement medal presented by the Sacral Art Biennial in Gorzów, Poland in 2000. Maria-Teresa received a Special Award from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2001. Her works can be found in the collections of 24 museums and in private collections in Poland and abroad. She works with artistic textiles – kilim, Gobelin tapestry, sumac, textiles made on heddle loom, jacquard and authorial relief pattern.
A more detailed biographical note can be found in the Dictionary of Polish Designers (www.slownikprojektantow.pl).