Międzynarodowe Biennale Artystycznej Tkaniny Lnianej Z krosna do Krosna

THE END OF THE 10th EDITION IALCB.

The closing exhibition of 10th “z krosna do Krosna” International Linen Cloth Biennial took place in Hungary from 7th November 2019 till 5th January 2020 in The Town Concert and Exhibition Hall in the city of Zalaegerszeg. The Museum of Crafts in Krosno organized the exhibition in cooperation with the local partnership institution - Göcseji Múzeum. The exhibition attracted the interest of Hungarian media and nearly 1800 visitors to the Museum. As the genesis of the Biennial is strictly related to Hungary, it is a tradition to organize there a closing exhibition. What is more, the Biennial itself become an important and recognizable part of cultural events in that country.

Together with the jubilee edition of the Biennial in 2018, the time for the first numerical summaries and historical reflections has come. This year, our Museum celebrates its 30th anniversary. Also, it has been 20 years already, since we created the idea of the Biennial. It means the greater part of the existence of the Museum is closely related to linen cloth. As the Museum was quite a young place when the idea of Biennial was born, the prospect of failures and mistakes was inevitable, especially due to operating on “the outskirts” of large cultural centres in Poland. It is a passing time that proved the quality and results of our actions in the area of artistic linen cloth.

We would like to thank all the artists participating in the Biennial. We are proud you trusted us. Those 20 years were filled with meeting outstanding artists, who beloved the linen cloth and created so many wonderful artworks presenting the beauty, possibilities and timelessness of the linen matter. The Biennial become also a platform for the cooperation of the masters and debutants. Thanks to the DEBUTS competition, both experienced and beginning artists can jointly create an artistic fabric tradition.
In addition, we would like to thank also all the artists who donated their artworks to our Museum. As a result, we were able to create a unique collection of linen cloth, presenting the modern artistic linen cloth from the first two decades of the 21st century. It all has started in 2000 when the Museum of Crafts organized 1st “Z krosna do Krosna” International linen Cloth Biennial. Currently, our collection is formed by the works of around 500 artists from several generations, presenting modern trends of linen cloth.

We are especially proud of some parts of our collection. It includes works associated with the trends of the Polish school of artistic cloth - a phenomenon flowering on a global scale in the 1960s and the early 1970s. These are the most precious exhibits. We own the works of Maria Teresa Chojnacka, Barbara Falkowską, Kaja Kazimiera Gidaszewska, Urszula Kołaczkowska, Dobrosława Kowalewska, Krystyna Mieszkowska-Dalecka, Wojciech Sadley, Adela Szwaja and Krystyna Wojtyna-Drouet. Another special group of works in our collection are the works made with the traditional weaving techniques (also authors’ own techniques). Sadly, traditional techniques are losing their popularity. The great part of our collection reflects artistic exploration, creative experiments and contemporary trends in the field of artistic cloth. Moreover, many debuting artists donated their works to our Museum. The youngest artists started debuting in our Biennial in the second decade of the 21st century. The artists creating our collection come not only from the biggest Polish culture centres (Kraków, Łódź, Poznań, Warszawa, Wrocław, Tricity) but also from other countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Hungary, Italy).

The Museum of Crafts in Krosno would like particularly distinguish prof. Ewa Maria Poradowska-Werszler, for her great contributions in the tradition of Polish artistic cloth. While taking care of the Biennial, she acted as an artistic advisor. When building the idea of the Biennial, the Museum draws on experience gained by the Biennial of Small Weaving Forms organized by prof. Ewa Maria Poradowska-Werszler.

In addition, we send thanks to our partners from Slovakia and Hungary for co-creating exhibitions of our Biennial- the Slovak National Museum - Museum of Ukrainian Culture in Svidnik, Šariska Gallery in Prešov and Göcseji Múzeum in Zalaegerszeg. We are pleased that the exhibitions of the "Z krosna do Krosna" International Linen Cloth Biennial have their recipients in these countries and are known and always awaited.

The closing exhibition in Hungary has traditionally completed a two-year cycle of work on the current edition of the event. Therefore, the Museum of Crafts in Krosno invites you to participate in the "Z krosna do Krosna" 11th International Linen Cloth Biennial 2020 and announces the current edition as open.

Photoreport from the exhibition in the Göcseji Múzeum in Zalaegerszeg

Iwona Jurczyk
The Museum of Crafts in Krosno
(translation: Iwona Ćwiąkała)