IngentaConnect Sources of Modernity: The Interpretations of Vernacular Crafts in...

Author: Szczerski, Andrzej

Source: The Journal of Modern Craft, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2008 , pp. 55-75(21)

Abstract:

In Polish cultural and intellectual life c. 1900, the issue of vernacular craft acquired unprecedented importance due to its association with the search for a national style, a particularly pressing issue in a country without its own political autonomy. However, the resulting debate reached beyond the question of national identity and came to encompass a variety of political and social issues, illustrating the tensions between competing visions of what Polish culture should be. The national romantic aspect of the crafts revival interested Art Nouveau critics like Zenon Przesmycki and visionary socialists, like Edward Abramowski, who envisaged the future Poland as a republic of cooperatives. The democratization of beauty through design was seen by writers such as Julian Marchlewski as tantamount to political revolution, while the re-interpretation of traditional crafts resulted in several design idioms (including the Zakopane Style of Stanisław Witkiewicz) that tried to illustrate the uniqueness of the cultural heritage of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The idea of national style thus corresponded with a vision of the democratic national community bound by solidarity. The national craft revival complemented a new model of society, based on individuals and small communities, seen as the preserve of human dignity against the impact of contemporary imperialist political and economical networks.

Keywords: POLAND; NATIONAL STYLE; DESIGN; VERNACULAR CRAFTS; 1900; NATIONAL ROMANTICISM; ARTS AND CRAFTS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.2752/174967708783389841

Sources of Modernity: The Interpretations of Vernacular Crafts in Polish Design around 1900