The Hutsuls are an intriguing ethnic group inhabiting about 40 places in the mountain areas of the Pokuttya (Pol. Pokucie) and the Bukowina and along the slopes of the Eastern Carpathians.  Culturally and anthropologically the Hutsuls comprise a mix of Ukrainian, Hungarian, Rumanian, Polish and other types.  The main components of their extremely rich and varied culture are drawn from the Wallachian (Vlach) tradition for their sheep-rearing, defence structures, magic, and music, as well as the Ukrainian and Polish cultures.  The region served as the melting pot in which many different cultures met and mingled, giving an exceptional cultural abundance which has fascinated both researchers and casual observers alike.

Ever since the 19th century many scholars and travellers have fallen under the spell of the mountain wilderness and Carpathian forests, and the spectacular Hutsul culture, perpetuating it in works of art and literature.  In the 19th and 20th century until the 2nd World War the Eastern Carpathians were a destination for a continuous stream of visitors: convalescents, writers, poets and painters who admired the local inhabitants for their special characteristics: the courage and love of freedom and beauty distinguishing them as a community.  Today, although the Hutsul region is no longer part of Poland, it still continues to arouse a great deal of interest.  Mountain treks in the Eastern Carpathians are in vogue. Polish museums display numerous exhibits presenting the Hutsul culture.  Hutsul music is becoming fashionable too.

This Exhibition's first part presents Hutsul material culture, in which the most valuable exhibits are the firearms.  The wooden artefacts include candlesticks and a collection of crosses use in Church for blessings.  There are also textiles, specimens of embroidery, leather items, brass artefacts, and hunting equipment and accessories.  The second part comprises a Hutsul pottery collection (turn of the 19th-20th century) and a series of paintings by Kazimierz Sichulski, Teodor Axentowicz, Frederyk Pautsch, Stanislaw Jankowski and Seweryn Obst.