Design by Wladyslaw Pluta
Folklore is an important part of national culture. As a complex and fascinating phenomenom, it is significant in many ways. An acknowledged source for the study of a nations's history, folk tradition and culture is one of the key elements. contributing to its sense of identity. Often it provides the inspiration for national art. Scholarly research on Polish folk culture has been conducted now for over 200 years. Polish ethnographic collecting, which prompted the foundation of the country's ethnographic museums, started somewhat later. The collections of the Muzeum Etnograficzne im. Seweryna Udzieli, the oldest and most valuable of them, command a special position. This Album, which shows the traditional Polish folk culture, is being published just as the Museum is celebrating the 90th anniversary of it foundation (2001).
Features exhibits representing the folklore from various regions of Poland, from the collections of the Muzeum Etnograficzne in Cracow. With introductory texts by Andrzej Rataj and Professor Franciszek Ziejka.